Tales of Olympus
by Orochi-Ne
Summary: A raging wind had always seemed to surround his life. The wind tore everything away from his soul. Family, love, and trust meant close to nothing to him. He could never grasp the concept of living. He just wanted to exist.
1. Talk about school spirit

**Authors Note: **This is an AU. Don't get mad because Percy's not here*CoughFangirlsCough*, And Percabeth *CoughFangirlsAgainCough*. A warm thanks to my wonderful beta **He who shall not be named! **Well. Happy reading everyone. Reviews are always appreciated. PS: Fangirls. You are not welcome here. Unless of course you go back to Third grade english and learn proper grammar. Then _maybe _you'll actually develop a real plot and a decent story line. No offense. But, if you are offended then congrats! You're a fangirl. Suicide is not the answer but, if any of these things above pertain to you may want to consider it. Enjoy!

Tales of Olympus.

Chapter 1: Backlash

By: Orochi-Ne

'Click.' That was the only sound I could hear as I walked out of the school building. First to show and last to leave. That was my philosophy. My school was hosting the- How did my counselor put it? Ah yes; 'The biggest event of the year!" Or something like that. The steps seemed to fade in and out of my view. I staggered slowly catching a hold of the railing to my left. I knew I'd smelt alcohol in the air, I just didn't know were it was coming from.

I wal-tripp-stumbl-damn near fell down the stair case. The smell of alcohol faded and multiple scents attacked my nose. Each one was more disgusting than the last. My vision was hazy.

"Typical." I mumbled.

I lowered my hands to my sides and began to feel around for my glasses. I felt my body stop as I felt around for those damn things. I reached into my back packet and gave a distorted smile as I pulled them out my back pocket. My hand swiped my dark brown hair out of my hazel eyes. I allowed a small breath to pass from my lips as I placed the glasses on my face.

"Better."

I strolled down the quiet subway station. The silent atmosphere was for a lack of better words; perfect. My eyes flickered over towards a figure but, I instantly shook it off. It had been five years since I had been attacked by one of those- Things.

I'd never really understood what it was that I saw or for that matter, why I was the one to see them. When I was ten, I got attacked by these-These; monsters one might call them. My mother had told me that they'd go away as I got older. I've always found her words funny.

Considering, that when I turned ten, that same group of monsters. . . .

Killed my mom. They ripped her body apart piece by piece. I was ten year old kid. I did the only thing I really could; I cried. It didn't make sense. When the cops got there, I told them my story. Can you guess what it got me? Five years in a mental home.

Not to say that I don't think I deserved to be there. I mean, I was crazy, right? Seeing things that weren't there. I came to a stop at the correct train post. The train came speeding by within a matter of minutes screeching to a loud halt. The dingy metal doors opened and I stepped forward. My eyes glanced from left to right surveying the area.

Three cheerleaders sat to the left of me, each one giving me a menacing glare. Damn, I knew I wasn't the best looking guy but, that's harsh. "Freak" I heard one of them mumble. I rolled my eyes and stumbled quietly to an empty row to take a seat- Though, most of the rows were empty. I slumped forward in my seat and breathed out before closing my eyes. Sleep sounded entirely too good at the moment.

I awoke to the feeling of leathery hands touching my face. Both my eyes shot open and I saw an interesting sight. Three cheerleaders stood over my body. First thing that came to my mind?

_Run!_

The cheerleaders around me smiled as sweetly as they could. I breathed out in an attempt to keep myself composed.

"Can I help you _ladies_?"

The shortest one, Trish I think her name was, spoke first.

"We just want to talk."

I couldn't help but flash a distorted smile. Rule one of not being overly handsome or amazingly popular? Cheerleaders _never _want to just talk. I watched them silently. Soft mummers were being spoken between them.

"_Run!"_

I heard that voice in my head screech at me. I gave a mental wince before motioning them to sit down. Trish took a seat beside me and the other two sat in front of us.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm in a bad horror movie?"

Each one gave an innocent giggle.

"We just want to talk!"

I gave an amused smirk and motioned her to speak. Whatever it was that she had to say was surely going to amuse me.

"Well. We were wondering, what do you think of us?"

I was a bit take back at the question. Girls didn't normally ask me what I thought. I was usually the one in the corner. You know? That one kid, who talks to himself in the corner? Yeah, that was pretty much me. I closed my eyes in a silent exhale. I cracked them open and nearly screamed. Trish's normal dark brown hair seemed different. It looked almost alive. _No_. It was alive. Her hair was moving in every direction.

"W-what's that?"

Trish blinked. "What?"

I raised a shaky finger to her hair. "It's moving."

Her face seemed to lose all of its color. A loud screech came from in front of me.

"He can see!"

I instinctively turned forward to the two cheerleaders hovering in the air. A pair of green wings hand completely replaced their hands. Their uniforms ripped apart as feathers completely covered their bodies. Their legs seemed to stretch down and long slender claws erupted out of their shoes. They flapped their wings while hovering in mid-air. Each one screamed out in a language I didn't understand.

My eyes shifted to Trish. She didn't look different, really. You know, excluding the snakes that were slithering around in her hair. I gulped. I had one of two options. I could run or I could sit here and scream. Now, both offers seemed enticing.

"_Run."_ The voice in my head was sarcastic. Unlike all the other times, I allowed my body to shift into auto-pilot. I pushed passed Tri- Whatever is it that _she _was and ran past the birdies. I could feel them watching me. Like hawks allowing their prey to leave. I ran to the door connecting the first train to the second.

I opened the door and scrambled inside. I closed it back and locked it within seconds. I ran to the back and slumped down onto the floor.

"Calm down." I mumbled silently to myself. No matter how many times I said it. It never worked. I was a bundle of nerves and there was nothing I could do about it. I hated this feeling. You know that feeling, of not having any control?

'_Bump'_ The sound of them beating the door rang within my ears. I closed my eyes; maybe it would all go away. I heard the screeching of the door begin pushed in, the glass breaking and the foot steps. The flapping of the bird wings echoed within the large room.

"Get him!" She yelled at her two feathered friends. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel them. I felt their talons dig into my shoulder and lift me off the ground. A sticky liquid trailed down my arm. Interestingly, out of all the ways I had picked to die, this wasn't on my list. I breathed in. Funny, when your about to die, they say your life flashes before your eyes. I couldn't help but wonder, where's my flash? I felt my body give out. I saw darkness surround me. Well, I'd welcome death with open arms.

A loud crash caught my attention, just as I was about to pass out. I half-opened my eyes to see the birdies disappear in a cloud of black smoke. Most people would've been happy about that fact. I would've been happy too, had my body not just fallen to the ground.

I looked up to see a dirty blonde haired male standing in front of me a smirk on his face. He held a bronze sword up as if to block something from looking at him.

"Euryale! Long time no see."

Tri-Euryale growled at him. "Damn you to Hades!"

The snakes that now covered her hair seemed to go insane. They sprang up, I wasn't looking directly at her eyes but, I could tell she was had a strong desire to kill. He kept that stupid smirk on his face. Didn't he realize he was in any danger!

"Keith! Do it now!"

An arrow whizzed through the air and struck Euryale the arm. A small canister opened on the arrow and purple gas surrounded her body. Euryale teetered for a second before falling face forward into the ground.

"Good job, Keith." A figure rose up from behind a seat a smile on his face. A bow hung on his arm, a quiver on his back. His eyes shifted from his friend to me.

"What do we do with him?"

The taller of the two glanced backwards at me as he hoisted Euryale over his shoulder.

"Drop him off at the pound. I don't want him." He made a quick dash before jumping out the already broken window.

Keith sighed. "Sorry."

He extended his hand to me and helped me from the ground.

"Keith McKnight, you alright kid?"

"_Devon_"I spat at him.

"Huh?"

"Never mind; Can you tell me what the hell just happened?"

He chuckled. "Sorry. Not in my jurisdiction to explain. Not in a place, like this."

He handed me a white card.

"This is?"

He glanced backwards at me as he headed towards the window.

"Your ticket of course, reading it is the challenge. Getting to the place is the test."

He jumped out of the window and I swore I heard a neigh followed by flapping wings. I sighed and slumped into a chair. My mind was clouded with questions. I didn't understand. Nothing made sense. The only two things I knew for sure at this point.

One; I needed to get answers and two; I had just reached a new level of mentally screwed. My train came to a halt. I stood up and walked through out the bus, followed by the large station. I walked up the steps and was greeted by moonlight. The world seemed to have stopped spinning.

I walked through the cold night a black cloud of depression was slowly forming over my head. One thing was certain. I'd have a hell of a story to tell the guys at the home.


	2. Libraries are dead

**Authors Note:** Back already. I was a tad surprised at myself. I was actually dedicated to writing it. Better than X-men, yeah? Thanks for all those lovely people who reviewed. Means alot, ya know? Anywho. Here's chapter two; Enjoy! P.S. Again. A special thanks to my wonderful Beta. **He who still won't be named. **

Chapter Two: Occurance.

By: Orochi-Ne.

'Ring' the bell went off and I shot to my feet. School was almost over. Thank God for that. I preferred spending my days at the mental home. At least there I could get work done. Then again, what work could a fifteen year old kid really have to do? I strolled quietly down the hallway. At least I wasn't stumbling like normal. The medication seemed to be working. My ADHD was being kept under control.

I faked a smile at another student before sliding into the library. I flicked my bangs out of my eyes and nodded to the librarian who was occupied with typing away at her computer- Why do I keep getting the feeling that I've seen her before? I stopped and watched her type. She looked- what's the polite way to say it; odd sounds about right. She was pale skinned. She had jet black hair that flowed down to a little below her shoulder. Her eyes seemed to gleam with a black fire.

Before I could walk away and I heard her ask in almost an annoyed voice.

"Need something, shrimp?"

I could feel my eyebrow beginning to twitch. Odd, I seem to have a real problem with people calling me out of my name.

"_Devon_" I responded in a harsh tone. "Actually I do. Are there any books on ancient Greek myths?"

She arched her eyebrow at me and gave a low chuckle. She raised her hand before pointing directly in front of her.

"Oh, I don't know. _Maybe _you could check the Mythology section or maybe the section on ancient civilizations?"

I could see her trying to hide a grin. It wasn't working all that well.

"Thanks." I spat out. She simply giggled and nodded.

I walked past her desk, tuning out the giggles and snickers I received from the infuriating librarian.

The school library was actually a pretty decent place. It offered a lot of different books, for a lot of different people. You had suicide books for the dark and books about medieval torture devices for the demented. It even offered books about vampires who sparkled every time they went into the sun for your occasional psychopath.

I grabbed two books from the mythology section and one from the ancient Greece section. I glanced around the library before eyeing a table. I made a quick stroll nabbing the table from a couple of geek- That wouldn't be fair to call them that _just _because they weren't popular. So, I put them in the same category as me; popularity challenged.

They glared at me for a few seconds, before finally leaving. I flashed my distorted grin at the librarian who was still giggling from her desk. I opened both of the Greek myth books and placed them in front of me. First thing too look up? Trish or what was it that guy called her?

"_Euryale._" The voice in my head added in quietly.

I nodded silently, before flipping to the index.

"Page Seven-fifty."

I flipped through the large book as quickly as possible. I stopped on page seven-fifty and arched my eyebrow at the sight. There was Trish standing next to two other girls who appeared to have some sort of obvious relation.

I glanced around the page.

'There were three Gorgons in classical Greek history. While some descriptions vary though Greek literature, the term usually refers to any of three sisters who had a hair of living breathing venomous snakes and could turn anything to stone with their glare.'

I blinked. Was that the reason that guy held his sword in front of his eyes, maybe to stop himself from being turned to stone?

I sighed. If what I was reading was true that would mean that Trish had to be over a thousand years old. I placed the book to the side and pulled out the white card that- Kenneth ha- Wait. That doesn't sound right.

"Kenny. Ken. Keith? Keith!"

I mentally slapped myself. I glanced around the library to find most of the people staring at me. Though, that wasn't unusual. The mentally ill kid always got the stares. I sighed aloud before glancing at the card. I held it up to my eyes and tried to find some type of writing. It wasn't like I hadn't been trying this for damn near _two _weeks now. I'd suppose giving up would be the easiest thing to do.

I stood to my feet and sighed taking the books up to the librarian's desk. I placed them on her desk and she turned to face me arching her eyebrow.

"Wow. Three books, sure a little guy like you can handle it?"

I could feel it. My brow was twitching again. I breathed a calming sigh and closed my eyes. I opened them to see the librarian holding my white card. The voice in my head was buzzing.

"_Attention, kleptomaniac five feet away!"_

I stifled a chuckle and tried to retain my serious face. The library girl glanced at me before shrugging. She passed my card back to me and began to check out the books.

"So, tell me shrimp what-"

"_Devon_" Being polite didn't seem to work with this one. So maybe snarling it at her worked better.

"Ah. Yes, Devon. What are you planning on doing with all these books?"

I shrugged my shoulders, passing each book into my bag.

"Research"

She arched her eyebrow before nodding at me.

"Oh. If you don't mind me asking, who's the person on the card?"

I blinked. Person on the- I whipped out the white card and read it quietly to myself.

'_If you're reading this you've passed the first test. Though, this challenge was mediocre at best. Now my friend here lays the real quest. The daughter of the dead shall be your guide. To help you find what you've been missing inside. Carefully you shall go, until you meet the one who bends dreams to and fro'. '_

_Your buddy_

_Keith McKnight _

I felt it. My brow was at it _again. _My eyes glanced upward at Heather who simply arched her eyebrow.

"Must be some type of RPG, right?"

My brow furrowed. I would've loved to answer her question. But, in this situation I was as lost as she was. I closed my eyes and tried to remember something. Any little piece of information would help. I was sure of it. Then almost as if of my suffering the voice in my head seemed to rain down a simple answer.

"_Hades_" My brain chirped into over-drive as I slowly began to formulate answers.

"Hades makes sense." I mumbled aloud.

Heather was suppressing a faint grin. Why did it feel like, she knew something I was so fortunate not too.

"Huh?"

I glanced out her silently.

"Hades was the god of the dead in Greek myths. The line about the dead daughter could mean a daughter of Hades- Which doesn't make sense unless the gods were-"

"Were real?" The female in front of me grinned faintly.

I stumbled backwards as the bell rang. It was all making sense. Euryale was real. That didn't explain Keith and the other guy. And it sure as hell didn't explain this weird library chick, telling me that Greek myths were real.

She smiled at me and handed me a black card- whoa, these kids really like they're colors.

I took it and I could actually read it.

'_The truth is on its way, though if want to feel safe I'd suggest you and I have a small date. A briefing if you will to discuss, what's gotten your mind in a fuss. '_

_Your secret instructor_

_Heather Tolintino. _

I blinked and glanced up at the desk. She was gone. Brief smells lingered were she once stood. A smell one would describe when they passed on. I felt my nose cringe I wasn't familiar with this smell but, if I took a guess I'd say it can only be described in one word; death.

I sighed aloud. I pushed my hands through my hair and prepared for the night to come. Strangely, I couldn't help but feel a tingle of excitement. I was actually going to learn what I was! Let's just pray she doesn't say, I'm so type of misplaced freak who doesn't belong- Though. That doesn't sound _that _bad.

**Authors Note**: Ah. Chapter three should be up next week. The next chapter in the Tales of Olympus series; Chance.


	3. A cat takes a dirt nap

**AN: **Ah. Salutations. Sorry if this chapter took a while longer than the other chapters. I had to rewrite this chapter over and over again until I thought it was presentable. I want to send a special thanks to my Beta: Mr.2012 and to Zack2010 for taking so much intrest in my story. Ah. We have our first guess of who people think Devon's parent is. The first guess; Aphrodite herself. *coughwrongcough* Good guess! Now, enough of this frivolous banter. Happy reading.

Tales of Olympus

Chapter Three: Chance.

I glanced around the pitch black street. Here I was again. My eyes flickered up to the moon. I couldn't help but spare a smile. Everything was so silent and clam. Though, I wasn't here to gaze at the moon. I had to meet up with a half-dead chick to talk about my _future_. My hands found their way into my pockets, I hated the cold. I strolled down the silent road glancing from right to left. My eyes caught a figure in the light of the moon.

I walked to it quietly.

"Heather." I called out. "Is that you?"

The figure shifted in the light before disappearing. Wait. Things don't just disappear in the dead of night, especially not people. My eyes opened wide as the feeling of a hand slowly crept its way down my back.

"_Don't scream!_" The voice in my head commanded and like a scared child, I obeyed. So, instead of screaming I settled for shaking- quivering. A low chuckle came from behind me. I knew that chuckle. I'd know it anywhere.

"Heather." I mumbled.

"Yes?" She replied in a mock-scary voice.

I performed an about face and glared at her. She looked at me for about thirty seconds before doubling over in laughter. My face was a bright shade of red. My brow was slowly beginning to start its regular twitching routine.

"_Note to self._" The voice in my head began. "_Find another means of showing anger. Try yelling!_"

"What the hell was that, Heather?"

"_Good job._"

She giggled standing to her feet wiping a tear from her eye.

"I-I couldn't resist! The look on your face, you were practically begging me to scare you!"

I felt her arm coil around my neck as she finished off her final chuckle.

"Now, it's time you and I had that talk."

She turned away from me and began to slowly walk forward. I saw her finger rise as she motioned me to follow her. I rolled my eyes. I didn't see a reason but, she had answers and I wanted them.

I followed her a few feet until we reached a park. She strolled towards the park bench and motioned me to join her. She sighed out loud before speaking. Wow from idiotic to serious in three seconds flat. Can somebody say, 'bipolar'?

"I'm sure that by now you're starting to understand the gods are real. If they weren't real, both you and I wouldn't be around."

It wasn't to say that I didn't believe Heather's words. Everything made since if the gods were real. That meant, that all of the Greek myths I read in the book were true but, the thing that didn't make sense if what any of that had to do with my existence

"Excuse me? What do you mean; we wouldn't be around?"

She glanced at me, her cold brown eyes regarding me like I was an idiot for not understand. She let out another sigh.

"Do you know the story of Hercules?"

My brain clicked into over drive searching for the name. I found a simple connection from the Greek myth book I had checked out the day before. Hercules was said to be the greatest hero to ever live in Greek Mythology. I nodded my head quietly at her question.

"Hercules" I started. "He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. He was said to be the greatest demi-god in all of Greek mythology."

She nodded at me acting as if that was the answer the entire time.

"That doesn't explain anything!"

She arched her eyebrow at me. "Doesn't it? You said the gods were real, right? Who's to say they don't keep having children with mortals? "

I went silent. My brain was trying to take in everything she was saying. It was rather hard to accept.

"The gods; unlike humans or demi-gods are unchanging. While the world around them may change, they simply evolve and adapt. They still stick to the same old things they did over a million years ago."

"S-so," I stammered. "You're a demi-god?"

She seemed to cringe at the word before nodding.

"Though, I prefer the term 'half-blood' yes. I'm the daughter of, the great dead man, Hades."

My mind boggled with questions. She was the daughter of the dead Keith had mentioned in his letter. She was supposed to answer my questions about this and make everything seem good? Strange, I don't feel anymore secure than I did two days ago. All this did was prove that I was indeed a freak that didn't belong in this world's society. Though, one question seemed to continue poking its way in my brain. No matter how much I didn't want it there.

"Can you tell me, who my parent is?"

She turned to face me; her cold eyes seemed to soften. Her facial features seemed to be different. The look she gave me at this point was a look I've been given my entire life. At the mental home, at home, even at school. It was a look that burned away at me at night, whenever I tried to sleep. Her face was full of pity.

"No."

I sighed. Not to say that I was surprised that she didn't know. But, for a second there I felt hopeful. I could feel her facial expression change.

"And that's why you're coming with me. "

I glanced over at her. She had a wide smile on her face.

"Where are we going?"

"A place for half-bloods like us to learn about what we are."

I blinked. Sounded like what my councilor told me the mental home was for.

"Does this place have a name?"

She stood to her feet and grinned. "Yes. It's called; camp half-blood."

"Hurry up!" Heather whispered to me, while I placed my clothes in my bag. One minute we're talking on a bench, the next minute we're moving through darkness and end up in my bedroom at the mental ward.

"Shadow movement, it's something only a child of Hades can do." I thought it was cool at first, until she told me that's how she keeping track of me.

I shoved a few more pairs of clothes in my bag and grabbed my meds. I placed them at the very bottom of the bag. I don't think Heather would be very happy if she found out I was bring those along. Then again, what was the worst she could do? Raise an army of the dead?

I glanced around the room trying to locate the thing that I couldn't live without. I strolled over and unplugged my laptop placing it in my bag. Hopefully, they had electricity at this camp. If not, well let's just hope they do.

I closed my bag, bringing over my shoulder and letting it fall at my hip. Heather glanced at me before arching her eyebrow.

"Couldn't just have a regular backpack could you?"

I blinked.

"What? This is the only backpack I've had!"

She nodded quietly.

"Whatever you say, shrimp."

My brow twitched but, she didn't give me time to respond. She raised her left arm into the air and moved her fingers up as the shadows began to bend in front of her. She closed her fist and shadows mended together and formed a black door. She motioned me towards the door.

"Let's get moving."

She grabbed my hand and rushed through the large portal. Now look, I don't really have a _huge _problem with shadow travel. It just feels creepy after a while.

We 'resurfaced' in the middle of a large clearing. A forest was dead ahead of us. The city was to our backs. Heather sighed out and mumbled as we began walking.

"Is something wrong?"

She glanced at me, faking a smile.

"I hate having to go this way to get to camp. This forest is over grown with monsters."

I blinked. If Heather disliked coming this way, did that mean this place had monsters stronger than Euryale?

As we continued our exploration into the large forest, I couldn't help but notice, Heather seeming to tense up every so often. Strange, I never thought the daughter of the dead would be shaken up. Our movements came to a halt when we heard the sound of moving somewhere to the left of us.

Heather glared at stood in front of me. I heard a low purr followed by a meow as a small kitten stepped out of the bushes.

I blinked quietly. "That's it? "

Heather glanced backwards at me like I was a psychopath.

"Devon, remember that thing called 'mist' I told you about?"

I nodded. The mist was something the gods used to stop mortals from seeing the works of Greek myths.

"Good. Now try seeing through it."

I glanced at the figure of the cat and adjusted my glasses squinting ever so slightly. My opened wide as the figure of the cat began to distort. My jaw dropped when I saw what it truly was.

A large three headed beast stood in front of us. It had the legs of a large goat, the body of well fitted lion, and a pair of large black reptile wings sprouting from its back. I glanced locating its head- Sorry _heads_. It had the heads of all the things it was composed off. To the far right rested the head of a ram, to the right was the head of a lioness, and square in the middle was the head of a long black serpent.

"W-w-what the hell is that?"

Heather glanced at me as she slowly pulled a black jump drive from her pocket.

"A chimera, a beast formed of the parts of three different animals. All of which look pissed."

The large beast roared and extended its wing upward, before spreading them.

"No matter what, stay behind me!" Heather screamed.

She clicked her flash drive and I watched it extend outward into a long black pole. Each side of the pole had metallic daggers extending out from them. She spun the pole in her fingers before aiming it forward at the beast.

The chimera roared a loud a vicious roar, had I not known what made the sound I would've thought it was thunder. The dragon's mouth opened wide as a line of pure fire rushed at both of us.

Heather spun her staff before stabbing it into the ground below her, a line of large boulders shooting up in her defense. Hades kids' had some type of control over the earth as well, from the looks of it. The flames hit the rocks head on and raised the temperature around the two of us.

She sighed aloud. She glanced at me, from the corner of her eye, before returning her attention on the task at hand. She opened both of her palms and her body began to tremble. I felt the earth shift and then the chimera's scream of pain.

I glanced at from behind the boulder to see the beast caught in a large fissure. Heather exhaled and closed her palms closing the fissure in the process. A loud roar came from the chimera as it took to the sky, now with only three legs.

Heather stumbled and fell backwards to the ground.

"Damn, I over did it."

I stumbled to her side before helping her to her feet. It was obvious being a demi-god has its natural drawbacks. Over exhausting yourself was the main thing. The chimera roared in the air. All three of its head breathed in one breath.

Heather sighed and I closed my eyes. I didn't think it would really come to an end like this but, I'd dieing with a friend so, I can't complain. We waited for the fire to scorch our bodies but, it never came. I cracked my eyes open and looked up to the see the chimera seeming to move from side to side as if it were dizzy.

Then almost like magic the body of the large beast began plummeting straight towards the ground making impact in a matter of seconds. Its heads were extended and its eyes closed. Wait- was it sleeping?

Heather moved forward holding her spear above the middle head before stabbing it directly through the brain. It erupted in a cloud of black dust.

Heather sighed out before sitting down on the ground with a smile her spear reverting.

"Well. Looks like you saved my ass."

I glanced around, knowing far too well she wasn't talking to me. I saw a figure jump from a tree and land were the beast once lay smirk on its face.

"How many times does this make?" The male noticeable male voice responded.

"Seven." Heather mumbled. The male went to her assisting her up. He glanced at me silently before speaking.

"Is that the kid?"

"No, it's a tap dancing bear in a human costume. Of course it's the kid."

He stepped to me and looked me up and down before extending his hand. His chocolate eyes seemed to look right through me. "Oswald"

I nodded to him. "Devon, if you don't mind me asking; how'd you do that?"

He shrugged. "Rather simple. My dad's the god of dreams."

I blinked as the line of the card echoed through my head.

"_The one who tosses dreams to and fro'_"

I couldn't help but smile. He sighed and motioned both of us to follow.

"It's almost midnight. I think Chiron would like us there before it gets too dark."

Heather nodded and stood to her feet, placing her flash drive back into her pocket.

"Well. This is the part, I must depart."

I blinked and glanced over at her. "Wait, what? Aren't you supposed to be taking me to camp?"

She chuckled. "I _did _I got to the woods. The rest is up to him."

She pointed over at Oswald.

She then flashed a grin. "_What_? Don't tell me you've gone and fallen in love with me?"

My brow twitched as I turned to face Oswald and motioned him forward.

"Lead the way." Heather chuckled and summoned another shadow portal.

"See you around, Shrimp!"

Before I could turn back to vent my anger, she was gone. I heard Oswald chuckle aloud. I glared at him and he smiled motioning to the forest.

"Shall we get going?"

I sighed before nodding. The large forest seemed to be scarier at this point though, Oswald didn't seem to have a problem he simply walked through like he did this sort of thing all the time. I could see the clearing of the forest just ahead. This long journey was finally coming to an end.

I smiled to myself. I had finally made it. We walked out of the forest and were greeted by a large sign which read 'Camp Half-Blood.' I glanced upward slowly. Oswald stopped and admired the sign more pointing forward.

"Only a few more minutes and we'll be there." He said.

I nodded quietly and continued walking. The excitement in my heart was too great to contain. I felt like I was about to burst open and explode into a cloud of black and white confetti. My life was finally looking up for once. I was about to start my new life at Camp Half-Blood.


	4. One tornado, hold the fries

**A/N:** _Goodness Grapes. How long's it been? Sorry for the strange delay, I was having a few problems writing this chapter. But, hey. What can you do? Anywho: I have an offical Beta now. 8D Not to say Mr.2012 wasn't offical. One last thing before we begin. The minor gods are just as important as the major. Remember that as you read the entirety of this tale. Now; Happy reading._

Tales of Olympus

Chapter four: Ignition.

By: Orochi-Ne

The bright rays of the morning sun greeted Oz' and I as we entered the supposed 'camp'. I stopped and exhaled once we had passed the border. My clothes and hair for that matter were a complete disaster. On our way to camp, more monsters seemed to enjoy attacking us. I came out pretty much fine but, Oz' on the other hand had quite a few minor cuts; Nothing serious. Or, at least that's what he told me. The concept of belonging had long since left my mind. All I wanted to do now was sleep.

Ozzy lead me to a large white building. He stepped through the partially open door and glanced around. He seemed to be looking for something.

"Chiron." Ozzy called out.

A brief grunt could be heard before a man with curly brown hair rolled out- a wheelchair. Not something you see every day. He gave Ozzy a soft smile.

"I did say before day break."

Oz' sneered. It was becoming obvious he was just as tired as I was, if not more. I just had to stand behind him and run every now and then. He was the one with the real challenge. He had to defend me, and defend himself at the same time.

"Well, gosh. I'm so terribly sorry! Heather ditched us and for some strange reason, the monsters in the forest seem to enjoy having a family reunion every time I have to retrieve a camper! It's like they have a hankering for Ozzy meat!"

I heard the man chuckle. I'm guessing it wasn't often that he got to hear Ozzy rant about something. He raised his hand and motioned him off.

"Go on Oswald. I'll have Annabeth and Keith show him around. "

Ozzy tried not to smile before bowing and turning to walk away. The man in the wheelchair smiled at me before speaking.

"I'm Chiron. The camp director if you will. Have a seat. We have much to discuss. "

My eyes wandered around the room. I was trying to find a decent place to sit. Strange, my brain couldn't focus. My eyes wandered and I couldn't pick a seat.

"Mr. Hill?" My eyes wandered back to Chiron. "Are you alright?"

I gave him a fake smile.

"I'm fine. I just prefer to stand."

He nodded. I clenched my bag that rested at my side. The pills were starting to wear off and my ADHD was slowly starting to slip back in.

"Ahem, are you sure you're alright, Mr. Hill?"

I hadn't even realized I was looking at the ceiling.

"I'm fine."

I hated lying. It was one of the worst things I felt I could do.

"I just need some sleep."

But, I was all for leaving out pieces of the truth. It's different from lying. You're technically being truthful, just not saying all that should be said.

"Well, you can sleep here for the time being. When you wake up, we'll get you settled in for life at camp."

I nodded. Chiron seemed like a nice guy. Though, I couldn't help but wonder why a cripple was leading a camp for 'powerful' half-bloods. The thought was pushed to the back of my mind once he showed me the back room, which seemed to have a few beds. Chiron said some campers couldn't stay in their own cabins because of over filling.

Not to say the place was bad or anything, but, it smelt like a mix between a horse stable and a grape field. It was an oddly refreshing sensation. I placed my bag on the ground beside the bed. I sat on the bed and laid back. Sleep was slowly beginning to take control over my body. I closed my eyes and sighed. Darkness over came me and I slowly started to drift into the realm of dreams.

* * *

My eyes cracked open and I found myself floating.

"Since when did gravity not love me?"

My eyes wandered all around the vast nothingness. I blinked and I found myself somewhere new. I floated a few inches above a large cliff that looked out over the ocean. The view was truly a breath taking sight. The blue water seemed to lull me into a state of mental peace.

"Nice, isn't it?" A voice whispered to my left.

I spun on my heels my eyes glancing from left to right. Nothing. I waved my hand in front of my face. I was awake, I had to be. But, this all felt like a dream. The concept of floating wasn't at all possible.

"Yeah, and neither is ripping giant fissures in the ground just by thinking it."

There it was again; I need to know where that damned voice was coming from. I heard a low whistle and my body twisted around. Floating over the water a few inches from the edge of the cliff stood a man. He had dirty brown hair and light hazel eyes. He wore a fancy dress shirt and black slacks. The sleeves of the cuffs were rolled up as if he were ready to fight at any moment.

I made eye contact with him. His eyes screamed peace into my mind. I felt every muscle in my body relax. But, underneath that peace you could see something that dared to be tested. My heart seemed to stop. Why did this stranger seem so- familiar? I felt a strange connection to him.

"Who-who are you?"

I could see his lips curling into a tender smile.

"My, you sure have grown."

Grown? How in the world did he know me?

"The last time I saw you, your mom was trying to teach you that boys didn't play with Barbie dolls."

I blinked. How could he know that about me? Could it be possible that he knew me in my past? No, that wouldn't be possible. Almost everyone from my past was gone. My mom, my grandmother hated me, my dad.

"Who are you?" I asked again, this time trying to make myself sound tough.

He ignored my question. His eyes scanned like he was trying to figure out what to say.

"When a demi-god reaches camp, and a certain age, their Olympian parent normally gives them a present."

Parent, did that mean he was my-

"D-dad is that you?"

He didn't respond. He seemed to like making a habit of keeping me guessing. I saw his hands raised into the air. He spun it slightly before stopping. A rush of wind blew past me and a cold sensation over took my hands.

My eyes wandered down to find two light silver ringers around each of my middle fingers. My visions turned back to the male- my father.

"Wow, I cut it by a hair."

I felt the area around me begin to darken.

"Devon," I heard my father call. "Can you do me a favor?"

I nodded my head.

"Never forget who you are. No matter what anybody tells you, being a hero is so overrated."

The image of my father began to fade out. Everything around me turned to darkness before fading. I knew what was happening. I was waking up.

* * *

"Devon." I heard voices calling my name. "Devon," they called again.

My eyes opened and I found myself hovering. I glanced around and I saw the camp. My eyes wandered down and I saw specks on the ground. That's when it occurred to me; I was a good twenty feet off the ground. I didn't feel like I was dreaming anymore- this all felt real.

I heard screams from below me; were the hell was I? My eyes wandered around trying to examine the area. I heard a loud ripping noise and something flew off above my head. Wait- My eyes opened wide once I realized it. I was in the middle of a full blown twister.

I wanted to scream. The concept of being this high of the ground and being inside of a tornado didn't sit well with me. But, somewhere in my mind, this all felt so calming. Others might have saw tornadoes and the like, nothing less than destructive. But, I personally felt they gave off a rather relaxing appeal.

The only problem in this situation was; I didn't know how to stop this.

"Heroes, all of you are the same." I heard a rather annoyed voice mumble.

I felt vines wrap around my body as I slowly began to make a decent to the ground. The tornado followed my path and disappeared once I was completely on the ground. I stumbled forward and landed on all fours. I felt so drained, so weak.

I glanced upward to find the eyes of every person- campers I'm guessing locked on me. I saw Chiron or well, half of Chiron. The other half of his body was a horse or maybe a donkey. I could never tell the difference. He trotted over to me before speaking.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet; Devon Hill. Son of Notus; the god of the South wind! The bringer of storms! "

I felt pleased that I now knew the name of my father. But, sometimes, other things take preference over that. I coughed as loud as my voice would allow. My limbs weakened and I met the warm ground below me with a thud. People crowded around to see if I was still alive. Though, I was quite aware of some type of green coin hovering above my head. Maybe that's what they were observing, not me.

"Give the lad some room!" I heard Chiron yell. "Keith, Annabeth, Gabe. Get this boy to the recovery room."

I felt the figures loom over me. Didn't feel like it mattered much though, my eyes were closing and my brain was telling me I had over done it. I felt my body rise from the ground before being hosted over something hard.

"Shit, this kid is about as light as a feather."

"Considering who his dad is, don't you think that'd be obvious, Gabe?"

"Shut it Keith, before I make you."

I heard a low chuckle before a female voice stepped in.

"Will you guys ever grow up?"

"So sorry some of us can't mature as fast as you little miss know it all."

I heard a sneer and that was the last thing I heard. I felt my body relax before finally passing out.


	5. Nothing clever, this time

_A/N: Hey! I'm getting better with this updating thing. 8D Anywho~ Nice to see you all. Err- I have one thing to ask for the chapter. Mind giving me some feedback? I'm not really the type that ask for Reviews and CC but, I'd appreciate them. You know, tips, tricks, and things of that sort. Where do you think the story is going? Pass me a few ideas~ Oh. And now, time to pass on something good. Check out the story: "Born from Jealousy" By Hahs. One of my favorite fanfiction authors. Now, enough talking. Get to reading~_

Tales of Olympus

Chapter Five: Meltdown

By: Orochi-Ne

It had been about a week since the whole twister incident. Chiron explained that since it was my first time using my 'gift'. And the entire concept of overusing said gift caused a negative effect on my body. Being bed ridden for a week might've been a burden for most people. Then again, I wasn't most people.

A total of three consecutive visitors came to see me during my time in the infirmary. Mel, a daughter of Hebe, who's love of sweet things, could rival that of my own. Next, there was Keith. Who I had figured out from his horrible poetry was a son of Apollo. He came in from day to day and made sure I was recovering correctly.

The last visitor was my favorite in _every_ sense of the word. It was a child of Eris; they had bleached blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Name- oh right. His name was Benjamin. He had to be one of the nicest, sweetest and most caring people I'd ever met. His _only _flaw was his girlfriend.

I shook my head quietly and sat up in my bed. The small cabin that acted as a medical room was actually quite calming. A few dingy spots of blood rested along the walls. A large obviously freshly made splatter of blood rested on the wall. I stood to my feet, before grabbing a gray shirt with the Camp Half-Blood insignia running along the front.

I gave a low sigh and pulled it over my shoulders. It was a little big but, that was to be expected. It was Benjamin's after all. I grabbed my bag from off of the floor and pulled it over my head, allowing it to rest at my waist.

I moved towards the door before sighing. I gripped the handle and opened the door, pushing it open after taking a half a second to compose myself. I made sure to put on a fake smile. Couldn't have the campers thinking I was some freak that didn't believe in smiling.

The bright rays of the sun greeted me as I stepped out of the cabin. My eyes squinted almost instantly. I wasn't overly fond of the sunlight. Once I was sure I could handle it, my eyes finally adjusting, I began to glance around the camp.

It looked like a regular children's camp. You know, excluding the number of children playing with large bronze swords. And the occasional explosions that went off. Other than that, it was average.

I didn't have much else to do. Chiron had told me that I was supposed to wait for my escorts. But, the thing was, he didn't tell me what they looked like. According to him, I would 'just know' them when I saw them.

"_The word of the day is clique!"_

I pushed the voice to the back of my head as I heard a voice call me from behind.

"Excuse me, Devon Hill?"

I turned around to find a male and female approaching me.

The girl was nothing short of drop dead gorgeous. She had shoulder length auburn hair and dark marina colored eyes. She wore a simple Holister shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I won't go on and tell you about how she smelled like apples and cinnamon.

The male beside her seemed to give off a completely different feel. He had copper color hair with black streaks going through. His outfit was black on black. Black shirt, black jacket, black jeans, and yes. You guessed it; black boots. He reminded me of one of those bad boys that did motorcycle commercials.

"That'd be me. The two of you must be my escorts?"

The female nodded. "I'm Natalya and this is Kieran."

I arched my eyebrow. I read up on Greek mythology during my week long stay in the infirmary. I had a pretty good guess of which Olympian god was their parent.

"Let's see, daughter of Aphrodite?"

She stared at me before nodding her head. Upon closer inspection, I could see a devious gleam in her eyes.

"Yes. But, I'm nothing like the average child of Aphrodite."

She winked and blew me a kiss. I blinked, I could swear I felt my cheeks heat up. I shook off the feeling and glanced at Kieran.

"I'm going to guess son of Hades?"

The look that came over his face was one of annoyance, anger, and amusement.

"No actually, I'm the son of the Goddess Phrike, the spirit of trembling fear."

I nodded my head quietly. Hebe bless her heart had been enough to explain things about the minor gods to me. I saw Natalya glance from him to me before putting on a smile.

"Well, let's get this tour started, shall we?"

The two of them turned and we began our exploration of the camp.

The thing that caught really caught my eye about Camp Half-blood had to be the amazing cabins. They formed a large 'U' in the center of the camp. At the helm of the large cabins rested two cabins that seemed to stand out from the others.

The one to the right was glistening with gold light. The cabin itself seemed to radiate pure raw undefined power. Clouds seemed to swirl around the roof as if ready to rain down on any intruders.

The one to the left seemed to be more elegant. It was draped in a pink fabric that glistened like the stars in the sky. It seemed to give off a strange feeling of warmth. It was the type of warmth that could only be described as the love of a mother.

"The two cabins there belong to Lord Zeus and Lady Hera."

I nodded. It made sense if I thought about it, the king and queen of Olympus. All the other cabins were lovely. But, there was one that stuck out. The reason for that was simple; it had about thirty campers hanging around in front of it.

"I wonder, what's going on up there."

Kieran, Natalya, and I moved towards the large cabin. It seemed to radiate with a natural heat and the closer you got to it the more you heard music.

I saw two figures standing in the middle of the crowd. One had a bow on his shoulders and an arrow in his hand. The other held a large axe in his grasp.

The closer we got the more I realized I knew the smaller of the two figures. It was none other than my favorite son of Apollo and my least favorite poet: Keith!

"You don't want to do this, Gabe."

The taller one sneered; I could only assume he was Gabe.

"And why's that? What could you possible do? Sing me a song?"

Keith growled. He gripped his bow in his hand and got his arrow into place. Gabe gave a crooked grin and gripped the hilt of his axe tighter. He brought it over his shoulder and placed it forward.

"Bring it, poetry boy."

Keith fired his arrow and Gabe sliced it right down the middle. He charged forward towards Keith avoiding arrows here and there. He raised his axe into the air, Keith's arrow aimed at his chin.

"Make your move!"

I felt something move past me and saw Natalya moving through the crowd.

"Gabe, just what do you think you're doing?"

When Natalya spoke I heard a slight hint of anger in her voice.

Gabe glanced at her and backed up away from Keith.

"What does it look like? I'm about to slaughter this child."

Keith growled again. "You were going to try."

Natalya glared at Keith and he instantly stepped off.

"You promised me, you'd leave the Apollo cabin alone!"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I lied! Get over it already."

Natalya's sweet smile turned into a sneer. Gabe arched his eyebrow. This was obviously a new facial expression.

"I don't like when people lie to me Gabe. You of all people should know that."

He blinked. "Look, I'm sorry they-"

"Shut it. I'm tired of putting up with your shit. We're through. Don't expect any mercy in capture the flag this Friday. The Aphrodite cabin, will be taking home the win."

He chuckled. "The Aphrodite cabin has _never _won."

She shrugged. "Then, I guess you don't have anything to worry about."

With that she turned and walked away from the large crowd. Keith followed suit and returned to his cabin. Gabe sighed before turning and walking off a few campers following behind him.

I glanced over at Kieran who was on the verge of dying from laughter.

"What was that about?"

"The Ares cabin and the Apollo cabin have always had a small grudge against each other."

"What does Natalya have to do with any of this?"

He spared me a quick glance before turning and walking forward.

"Gabe and Natalya have been an on and off couple for the longest time. It would appear they're off again."

I nodded as I followed behind him.

"Now, to show you were you're going to be staying."

* * *

We walked for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Kieran showed me all the camp hangouts. The lunchroom which had amazing self service, the lake that had interesting residents and the flying pony stables. I say flying pony because the term Pegasus seemed so out of date. Finally we came to another section of the camp.

It looked like it had been into the original camp lands. It was a wide field that had Cabin's branching out as far as the eye could see.

"What's all this?"

Kieran chuckled. "When more minor god children started to popping up, Chiron had to expand."

We continued walking, passing different cabins along the way. One was a light brown. It wasn't as flashy as the others cabins but, it had its own unique presence. When you looked at the other cabin you could feel as if you were looking at nature itself.

"That cabin belongs to the lord of the wild, Lord Pan."

The second cabin we passed was all black. Low screams echoed from around the cabin. I blinked it seemed like the cabin groaned with pain as we passed by. Kieran chuckled quietly.

"That's my mom's cabin."

I nodded. "I can see why, trembling fear and all."

We came to a stop in front of a large cabin. A low wind seemed to range around the cabin. I inhaled and felt something new rush through my veins. It was something new to me: a feeling of power.

"And, this is our stop, the cabin of all the wind Gods."

He stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Wait- I'm not the first?"

He chuckled aloud as the door opened.

"You're not that lucky."

From the now opened door a male stepped outward. He had dirty blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He glanced at Kieran and then glanced at me.

"Can I help the two of you?"

Kieran nodded and pointed at me. "Nick, meet your new cabin mate."

His eyes got colder at the words, 'cabin mate'. He grumbled before turning and motioning me inside. Kieran patted my back before turning and walking back to his cabin.

I walked inside the large cabin and inhaled. Clean, fresh air entered my lungs. I glanced around for a few seconds. It was a normal cabin on the inside expect for the occasional burst of wind that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Here are the ground rules."

I glanced over at Nick who at the moment was looking at me as if I had committed the ultimate crime.

"Rule one: anything I say goes."

My brow was already working away.

"Excuse me?"

"What part didn't you get? Tch, I'm the son of Aelous, king of the wind Gods!"

"Not really seeing your point."

He sneered. "This cabin is a place for the children of the wind Gods. Since, I'm the son of the king. I'm naturally the most important."

"_Ego boost, much?"_

While, I did agree with the voice in my head, I didn't respond. I just kept staring at him like he was going to yell 'surprise' and then give me a piece of cake as a welcome.

He turned around and plopped down on his bed.

"You can pick any of the beds to sleep in. Just make sure, it's as far from me as possible."

With that, he rolled over and ignored me. I sighed quietly and moved to a bed on the opposite side of the room. I sighed aloud and sat down on the bed. I couldn't help but give a faint smile. I placed my bag in front of me and opened it, looking for my laptop. A small piece of paper caught my attention.

I grabbed it in my hand and opened it quietly, trying oh so hard not to wake up Nick.

My head tilted as I opened the small paper.

"_If you're reading this, then I'm sure you're settled in. Tomorrow, your first day of training will begin. Sword or bow, we'll have to see, which one better fits thee. Be well prepared for your friends shall be your enemies."_

"Keith." I mumbled through my teeth. I rolled my eyes before plopping back on my pillow. Personally, I thought I should've been allowed another week to rest. But, somewhere deep inside I felt rather anxious.

It would be another experience and something new I could add to my list of failures


	6. Death and heartbreak

**Authors Note: What? Never thought you'd see me again. Hrm, I've had terrible writers block. But now I'm back on the right track. I've taken all the things that I got in my last reviews and applied. But, this chapter was written in a pure state of writers block. So, if it's not completely up to par don't hate me. But, I've started on the following chapter and all I can say is.. Sparkle. As always, reivews make my day.**

Tales of Olympus

Chapter 6: Fated.

'Cling.' That was the sound of metal on metal. Sword fighting was always something, I never wanted to try. Why I had actually agreed to doing it, was honestly against me. I brought my sword upward and blocked the attack that was going at my face. I could already hear the silent snickers that were coming from the group that sat around us.

I stumbled backwards a few inches. My sparring partner rushed in at me. It was obvious by the way she moved. She had two important things that I unfortunately did not.

Speed was the first. I figured she was a track star or a cheerleader, before she came to camp. Whichever it was gave her a strong edge over me. The second, was the fact that she believed in the overly clichéd 'concept over never giving up'. I personally, would give up at the first sign of a fight.

My sword came up to black another slash. This particular opponent was starting to get aggressive. She was slowly starting to push me backwards. I dug my feet in to the ground and pushed forward against her. This was a battle of brute force against brute force! There was no way, I could lose… right? I gritted my teeth and pushed forward with everything I had.

My eyes wandered up to meet hers. She wore a grin on her face — like she knew something I didn't. She pushed me forward and slid her sword against my blade. The sword flew from my hand and slung through the air, landing on its side. I brought my arm to my body and glared at Natalya.

A devilish grin slowly formed on her lips and she had her sword aimed forward at me.

I blinked and sighed. "I give."

She nodded her head and the sound of clapping went off from around us. I glanced around and saw her fellow brothers and sisters clapping. I'm guessing the Aphrodites didn't get many wins. So, maybe this was something they could be proud of. That means, even if it was an unfair fight. Against a fairly new camper but, I wouldn't be the one to tell them that.

"Good job, Natalya."

Ozzy stood beside with a light smile. He turned to and gave me a look of accomplishment.

"You too Devon you didn't scream this time."

I felt my face heat up. I didn't scream _all _them time. Well — okay maybe I did but, that was only when I was in danger.

"Thanks for that Oswald."

He winced when I used his real name before turning to face the circle of people around us.

"You guys have been training hard for capture the flag. Honestly, when we first started this training I had some doubts. But, you've all come a long way!"

A series of applause went out.

"And, as to show how much I support you guys. The Morpheus cabin, will aid you in capture the flag."

Natalya blinked. She seemed stunned. Had Ozzy's cabin not participated in that long?

"But, I thought you guys didn't compete in capture the flag?"

Ozzy snickered. "We just want to beat the living crap out of Ares. Not like we're going to help you guys."

Natalya giggled, along with a few of her sisters.

"All right, class dismissed! Everyone get some rest and be ready for tomorrow."

Everyone bowed to Ozzy. It seemed to be something that showed a term of respect- or at least that what it seemed to mean to him. I turned on my heels heading in the direction of my sword.

My fingers gripped the blade and I pulled upward gently. The grip didn't feel right to me. Ozzy said that if I kept practicing with it, I'd get better in time. And that was the problem, capture the flag was tomorrow.

I walked silently to the weapons vault. The weapons from that camp were stored in here. A hero's paradise is what Ozzy had called it. We had tried almost every one of these weapons through out the week.

But, none of them seemed right for me. The swords, only allowed attacking and blocking. I wanted to be able to get more creative than that. Maybe a spear would be better? It was possible thought.

It allowed for a more fluent movement and when all hope was loss, I could throw it and run.

With a swift turn of my heels I was walking out of the vault and back towards the camp.

My eyes wandered around the large camp. Everyone seemed to be getting ready for capture the flag tomorrow. I couldn't help but walk around idly for a while. It was nice to walk around without getting strange looks. I was just another same as everyone else. For once, I blended in.

But, I still felt like something was missing. I stopped where I stood and glanced into the sky. I had felt this way all the time back at the mental home- there had always been something, I lacked. Everyone else seemed to have it.

I pushed the over bearing feeling of sadness that had suddenly appeared to the cold confounds of my brain. I shook my head and trudged onwards towards the cafeteria. Or the 'slop hall' as Natalya called it. Even if she didn't act it, she was still a daughter of Aphrodite. She still found some things gross.

I walked into the large cafeteria and glanced around. Most of the tables were completely barren. Though, it was to be expected. Half of the campers were participating in their daily classes. The other half was more than likely off relaxing.

The golden soda dispenser that rested in front of me was my destination. I inhaled gently before figuring out what I wanted to ask for.

"I'd lake, a cup of hazelnut coffee."

The small machine twitched before beeping. A medium sized cup of coffee appeared before me. The sweet smell of hazelnut infiltrated my nostrils. He picked the cup up and brought to my lips before taking a sip. I shivered; I hadn't had the sweet taste of coffee in a while.

My body twisted and I headed back towards the door. My eyes were wandering around the cafeteria. I stopped and glanced into the farthest corner of the cafeteria. I saw two people- I almost instantly recognized. It was Benjamin and… her.

I had seen the two of them around camp but, I tried not paying much attention to them. But, now they were together and the- were kissing. Benji's eyes met mine. He pulled away and smiled at me. He said something to- Jessica I think that was her horrible name. Both of their attention turned to me. My eyes widened as I turned away.

I heard them call out my name. But, I couldn't face the two of them- not together at least. That sad feeling was starting to return to me. I dropped my cup and took off for the door. Before I knew it, I was running. The wind was pushing my body. I inhaled gently and allowed the wind to lead me away. I didn't know where I was going. And honestly, I didn't care. Just any where but, here.

* * *

I soon found myself at the river that rested inside camp. I exhaled gently and looked down into the blue water. Various pairs of eyes stared back at me. I stumbled backwards from the water and shook my head.

"Note to self: never go swimming."

I walked along the bank of the river for a while, trying to clear my head. I didn't understand why it hurt so much when I saw the two of them together. But, I wouldn't question it. I'd just curse Aphrodite for the rest of my days.

My thoughts were interrupted, when I heard the clashing of metal. I didn't think, classes were held this far out. I followed the sound and found a fairly interesting sight.

There stood Gabe, his axe locked in combat with the sword of a girl. She wore a black shirt and the jeans to match. She had jet black hair that stopped just short of her neck. Standing behind Gabe, was about four to five of his Ares cabin mate. Each one looked fiercer than the last. But, it was obvious Gabe was the strongest.

The girl held a rather large sword in her hands. She was blocking Gabe with both hands, while he was only pushing forward with one. I saw the over sized brute grin as he rammed into her and sent her sliding backwards along the ground.

"Tch, just finish it Gabe!" Roared most of Gabe's friends, I saw his face curl into a grin as he spun his axe between his fingers.

"Why are you doing this to me? I've apologized already!"

I saw Gabe's grin grow wider.

"Simple. You took one of our sisters from us. We're going to take you away from your cabin. Don't you understand the concept of equivalent exchange? Now, stand up."

She wobbled to her feet and gripped her sword. "I've already told you! I didn't mean to kill her."

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Right, the daughter of death himself, never means to kill anyone."

He slammed the hilt of his axe into her stomach, before slashing the tip of the axe down into her shoulder. She screamed out and wobbled backwards, blood dripping from her shoulder. Gabe snorted aloud. It was obvious he was just playing with her now.

"I can't help but to wonder. How will your dad feel, when he sees you're the one he has to cover with the blanket of death?"

My fist clenched together. I wanted to save her but; there was nothing I could do. There was no way I could take on that many people at once, much less the children of the God of war.

Gabe was advancing towards her. He raised his axe over her head and grinned.

"See you around — or, maybe I won't."

He swung the axe downward towards her head. I saw an arrow fire pass my head and hit Gabe right in the shoulder. He staggered backwards and glared in my direction. I felt my body tense but, soon realized they weren't looking at me. I turned my head to see Keith standing there, his bow loaded with another arrow.

There was something, different about him. He had an orange shine over his body and the grass that rested around his body was burned. His teeth were clenched together in what I could only describe as pure rage.

"Next time, the arrow is going through you."

Gabe winced and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He broke it half before growling.

"This has nothing to do with you, poetry boy!"

"If you mess with my girlfriend, you're messing with me."

He blinked and glanced at the girl.

"You're his-.."

She nodded her head.

"Now, I suggest you leave her alone before I let this arrow fly."

Gabe gritted his teeth. I guess seeing Keith serious was something that didn't happen often.

"Whatever. Just, don't expect any mercy from us tomorrow night! I'm going to crush you with everything I've got!"

With that, Gabe and his cabin mates turned and ran off. Keith placed his bow on his arm and rushed over towards the girl.

"Selena, Selena? Are you alright?"

She smiled up at him and hugged him.

"Thanks."

He chuckled and picked her up in his arms. His fingers were glowing with a red glow.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be, if I didn't save you?"

He glanced at me before standing up and heading off to the infirmary.

"_That was, rather heroic?_"

I sighed to the voice in my head. Being helpless seemed to be the only thing I could do. I couldn't help but to wonder.

"What does it take to be strong?"

Honestly, that question wasn't directed for anyone. Because, I don't think I would've been able to handle the answer.

My body shifted into a turn. The best thing to do was head back to my cabin.. I had a killer headache, and I figured sleep would do me good right now. Tomorrow _was_ the big day after all.


	7. Run in of the sparkly kind

**A/N: Yeah. I'm alive, how ever strange that might seem. In any case, time to give thanks. Thanks to: Xed Alpha for giving me the idea of the vampires while I was going through my _strong _Writers block. And a _very_ Special thanks to Mission to Marzipan. Do I really have to tell you how awsome you are? This chapter is diffrent. Because of the fact I think it tests the imagination, I left somethings unanswered for a very good reason. As always, reviews are loved. In any case, get to the good stuff.**

Tales of Olympus

Chapter Seven: Questioning

_Where am I?_

My eyes slowly cracked open. Everything in my immediate line of vision was nothing more than a blur. As I stretched out my body gave quiet pops from each of my joints. The ground that rested below me was warm. Once I felt cold metal brush against the skin of my fingers, I quickly seized it within my grasp. The screaming of my bones echoed through my head as I sat up.

The cold metal frame of my glasses felt so good against my face: it helped me know I was still alive. With my eyesight now fully restored, I was able to take notice of everything that rested around me. My body began to sway as I made a cautious movement to my feet.

A large set of trees rested around me and the sounds of nature echoed loudly in my ears. I glanced around and sighed to myself before walking deeper into the large forest. The mass of overgrowth seemed to surround me from every angle. I couldn't tell where I was or the direction I was headed in.

My fingers swatted a vine down out of my face and a flicker of light caught my immediate attention. It being the only source of real light I could see I ran towards it like any natural person. Of course, the vines still seemed to like getting in my way but I made it through.

After a few minutes, I came to the edge of the large forest. I leapt out and found myself in an ordinary plain — the only thing that wasn't ordinary was the waterfall that seemed to slither down into a small river.

There was a small lantern that hovered over the river, casting its light in every direction.

"Wait — why is that the only light?"

My eyes shifted around before glancing upward into the night sky. There was no moon, nor were there any stars.

The sound of rustling helped me figure out why I'd felt so weird this entire time. : I wasn't the only one here. My head slowly turned and I looked backwards into the forest. A blur shot past me and I felt a strange chill go down my body. From right to left my eyes shot. Where was it? For that matter _what_ was it?

_Screech. _I glanced over my shoulder at the lantern. It was moving side to side in a slow motion. The screeching got louder every time it moved but, there was another sound that seemed to outweigh the screeching, or at least it was that way in my mind.

It was the sound of footsteps. Soft at first but each one gradually started to pick up. Returning my attention back to the front, a pair of golden eyes met my gaze. The shifting of the lantern caused a dim light to cast on the figure.

"You've got to be kidding." I said quietly.

The figure advanced forward.

"Why are you here and for that matter who are you?"

My voice was caught in my throat. I was standing face to face with one of the few people in the world I found myself hating without even meeting them.

"_Edward Cullen? You have strange dreams." _

There was a series of possible questions that flashed through my head, but there was one that seemed to stick out above all others.

"You know, you're not supposed to sparkle right?"

His eyes flashed in mock frustration and his fangs caught my attention when he smirked at me. There was a low static that rang in the back of my head before the voice spoke.

"_Not to sound like I'm nagging you but maybe you should run." _That idea sounded amazing.

Edward launched himself towards me. My body shifted into autopilot and I darted to the right of his figure. A slight twinge in my brain alerted me that something was wrong. My eyes met his for a second and for the first time I noticed the gold color was starting to darken. I passed him up and shot forward into the forest.

A quick glance over my shoulder gave me a secondary clue that something was wrong. He stood there his smirk growing onto his face.

"_Move, now!" _the voice screeched but my body didn't seem to understand. I twisted my head around in time to see a pale fist collide with my face. The air was the only thing I could feel around me before I came to a halt on the soft ground below. My eyes glanced at the figures that slowly moved towards me.

At this point something fairly important flashed in my mind: the Cullens never hunted alone. Each of them stood before me in one perfectly straight line. With a low grunt I stood to my feet and glared at each of them. Their faces didn't seem amazing like Bella had made them seem. Each one looked hungry and rather gruesome.

"Honestly, what the hell did Bella see in you people?"

I saw one of them move forward — Alice I believe. She shifted from left to right and lunged towards me. I attempted to fake the left of her but; she saw through me and moved in sync with my body. Her arms coiled around me and she started to squeeze. For a second, just a second I found this situation rather _pleasing, but _that thought left my mind as soon as she tightened her grip on my body. My spine screamed in protest and most of the air was forced out of my lungs. For the first time, I noticed she was slowly moving her face closer to my neck. Squirming was the best I could do and even then, it didn't seem to help me.

"Just accept it; you'll be one of us soon," Edward said from behind his sister.

There was only one thing I could do — close my eyes and wait for the supposed burning sensation to over take my body. Well, that's what I hoped would happen if I became a sparkle master three thousand.

A low thump echoed through the forest and Alice's body toppled forward. We both fell to the ground. I saw a large silver arrowhead extending out the front of her head. My eyes flickered to the Cullen clan who seemed to be trying to locate the mystery archer.

"_You know now might be a good time to run?_"

With a push and a grunt Alice's dead body rolled off me. I stumbled to my feet and shot off into the overgrowth of the forest. My body was moving faster than normal; it was obvious the wind was pushing me forward. Glancing over my shoulder alerted me to the Cullens who at the moment were gaining speed.

The voice in my head was screaming at me, constantly telling me paths to take. Strangely, the forest was starting to feel more like a maze.

"_I'd suggest you duck._"

I slid to a halt and lowered my body to the ground. Four silver arrows shot over me and headed straight for the Cullens. My eyes opened wide at the sight of the remaining vampires falling to the ground. Staggering to my feet I watched as the bodies of each Cullen burst into a cloud of sparkling white dust.

"Huh, I figured it'd be more ivory." The sound of soft footsteps followed behind the voice. With a turn of my heels I found myself face to face with a girl that looked to be about twelve standing in front of me. She had auburn hair and a silver glow coming from her body. I felt both her eyes trace my body up and down.

"So, you're Notus' boy?" she asked. "You sure don't seem much like him."

"You know my dad?"

With a turn she was walking back into the forest not even sparing me a second glance. "You plan on coming?" she demanded.

With a tired sigh I nodded my head and followed behind the strange girl. The area around us to seemed to part, making a way for her to walk. We arrived at the large open plain; no trees grew in this area. She continued walking and stopped, sitting down at a small table with two chairs on either side.

"Take a seat," she said, gesturing to the other chair.

Complying with her wish, I took a seat to the left of the table and turned to face her. "Not to be rude or anything but, who the hell are you?"

"Good first question. I am Aura, goddess of the hunt and of early morning breezes," she said.

I blinked. Goddess of the hunt sounded familiar. I racked my brain and found an answer. "Isn't the goddess of the hunt, Artemis?"

Her shoulders shrugged and she sighed. "She isn't the only one. Just as Apollo isn't the only sun god."

I nodded my head, somewhat confused. "Then, if what you're saying is true. Why don't you have a cabin at camp?"

She stifled a chuckle before speaking. "Simple, Zeus turned me into a river a few millennia ago after I went on a rampage."

"You seem surprisingly calm about the entire thing."

Her eyes wandered to be and even in the lowly light area, I could see the pain that rested in her eyes.

"Why'd you go on a rampage in the first place?"

"I'd prefer to show you. Telling you would be amazingly boring."

She extended her finger to my forehead and exhaled softly. A silver glow overtook my body and for a few seconds I found myself watching a series of scenes. Each scene connected together playing one memory before branding itself into my mind. Breathless, I glanced at Aura who wore a bitter smile.

"Artemis — she let him rape you. Just because you said you looked better? Artemis seems to be one screwed up goddess in the brain."

She nodded her head and the smile melted away. "When I woke up, I was angry and confused. I began to put all men in the same category as _him _and from then on decided that killing men was my purpose."

I arched my eyebrow. "Then why did you save me?"

She chuckled at my question. "Have you ever been turned into a river? It allows one to think and calm down."

There was a clicking sound in my brain and I found myself staring at her. "If you're a river, how're you even talking to me about all this?"

"Zeus can be a reasonable guy. Over the years he's allowed me some freedom. Slowly, I'm becoming normal again. Well, as normal as a goddess can be."

I glanced around the plain and into the dimly light forest. "So, you bought me here?"

Her entire body tensed. "I summoned you here but this place is simply a dream."

"A rather vivid dream. What were the sparkles doing in my dream?"

She sat silent for a few seconds. Her eyes were scanning the forest as if trying to come up with a viable answer that she and I would accept. "I suspect Morpheus," she said eventually. "He didn't want the two of us to meet and wanted you to wake up before I could speak with you."

That name rang in my head. It was Ozzy's father — what could the God of dreams possibly have against me? There was a something else in my head that formed itself into an obvious question, so I asked it. "Why did you want to talk with me in the first place?"

She blinked as if the question was asked in another language. "Ah yes, I have a request." When I arched my eyebrow and motioned her to continue on she elaborated, "I would like you to get my son back from Artemis."

"She took your son?"

She nodded her head and chuckled bitterly. "It was during my rampage… I had a son. And she took him from me. Though, it might've been for the best. But I think it's time he was claimed and accepted as a half-blood."

With the way she spoke, it was obvious to me for the first time. Even if she was a goddess, she was still a mother and as a mother she missed her son. Maybe, without realizing it, I was starting to pity her. I knew it felt like to not have a mother so maybe that's why I wanted to save her son.

"I'll bring your son back," I promised.

A radiant smiled graced her lips. "Thank you. Now, I think it's time you head back. There's something going on at camp."

She snapped her fingers and everything around me went black. The chair below me shattered and I fell down into the darkness. Sometimes, I hated waking up.

**xOx**

Clashing metal and loud screaming woke me from my informative dream. My eyes opened and I found myself right in the middle of capture the flag. Everywhere I looked a battle was taking place. With a low grunt I was on my feet though needless to say, I stumbled around for a while. The dream had left me with a rather… faulty sense of direction.

Passing through a bush seemed to jolt my body back to life. I was suddenly in the middle of a battlefield. Almost immediately, I recognized most of the Aphrodite cabin who seemed to be putting up a good fight. But the real person that caught my eye was Natalya. She seemed to be in the middle of all the action. With the help of a few of her brothers, she was knocking people down left and right. "_Get out of the way!"_

I winced at the voice in my head and started glancing around trying to find the supposed threat. There was nothing around me to be seen. This might've been for the first time but was the voice in my head wrong?

Cold metal brushed against my neck and a hand gripped my wrist and held them behind my back.

"_I'm never wrong."_

My eyes wandered backwards as I glared at the figure. The darkness that shrouded the figure stopped me from properly viewing their face.

"I do apologize for this but, you're in my way kid."

My shoulders shrugged rather limply at the comment. "It's fine. Everyone is trying to win right?"

A chuckled escaped the lips of my current captor and the metal blade was pressed tighter into my neck. At this point I had one real option: hope I knew what I was doing. Inhaling, I gathered up all the air that my lungs allowed. Then with everything I had, blew out and felt my body shoot backwards.

My plan had worked and the body of my captor slammed backwards against the trunk of a tree. With a simple shake of my shoulders I was free and back on my feet. A groan came from what I could only assume to be nearly unconscious captor.

"Hey, hey what're you trying to pull? Back off you jerk!" A low scream followed shortly behind that sentence and my head shot forward. I'd honestly know that voice anywhere. Natalya was in more trouble than I had thought. I pushed off the ground and ran towards her voice.

I stopped once I reached a tree and glanced around trying to get a better view. Natalya stood clashing swords with an Ares kid. Another camper — a daughter of Demeter I thought — came up behind her and slashed at her back. Natalya gave another scream before she pushed the son Ares away with her sword and parried another slash from Demeter's daughter.

Then and only then did something important dawn on me. She couldn't win. Natalya was tough by the standards of the Aphrodite cabin but against two other demigods who'd been training for something like this since forever? She didn't stand much of a chance.

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. Helping her seemed to be the only thing on my mind. She was the first friend I made at camp and the only person to make me feel welcome.

"_You feel like playing hero?" _The voice was dripping with sarcasm. With a sigh I got to my feet and began to back up. A soft breath passed between my lips and I felt the wind whip against my back. I said a silent prayer and rushed forward listening to the sound of the howling wind behind me.

The Ares and the Demeter kid glanced at me with faces of shock and Natalya gave a halfhearted grin. I dug my feet into the ground and extended my hands in the direction of the two opposing campers. My body was pulsing with seemed to be power. The wind whipped around my body and shot straight towards the other two campers.

To them, it seemed to be nothing more than an invisible force until both of their bodies flew backwards through the trees, making a nice clearing for Natalya. I gave a soft exhale; the whole power thing came in handy I had to admit that.

"What're you grinning about?" I asked Natalya.

"Oh nothing, I just always thought the most you could do was whip up a nice breeze."

I glared at her and she chuckled before pointing at the clearing I had created.

"Want to go kick some ass?"

"I'm really not in the mood for this kind of—"

"Devon, you know it wasn't really a question right?"

"I sort of figured but I thought you'd consider my feelings more."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at me as we stepped through the clearing. "The only feeling I really consider is love and that's another conversation we _will _have later." Out of the corner of my eye I saw her give me a grin. She leaned down and picked up her sword, before turning back towards the fighting.

"Are you ready to help rack up a win for the Aphrodite cabin?"

I gave a stifled sigh and nodded to her. "Let's get this over with."

She chuckled before turning and rushing off into the fray of the action. I glanced at the sky before running after her. This was going to be one hell of a night and hopefully something positive would come out of it. But with my luck it was really anybody's guess.


	8. The truth bites

_**A/N: **_**I swear school kills any updating schedule I try and keep. So, I've decided I'll throw it out the window and just get longer chapters for you to read. Almost four thousand words this time, pretty close to my goal. You can expect more length as we move along. A_ VERY _special thanks to_ Mission to Marzipan _for betaing my story and listening to my excessive ideas. And a thanks to my muse, Mr. Pancho 2012. 'Nough said, get to it.**

**Tales of Olympus**

Chapter eight: _Response_

My body was moving and I knew for a definite fact that I couldn't stop. The growls and grunts that came from behind me urged me to move faster. A voice was screeching in my head and helped to keep me alert but at the same time it was giving me a headache.

"_I could just shut up and allow you to fend for yourself," _the voice reminded me.

A low grunt was the only thing I could get out of my mouth. The image of the Big House came in view and my eyes shifted up to the figure that rested atop the roof of the large structure. Once I made sure that I was close enough to the big house before sliding to a stop, I turned to face the huge hellhound that had been chasing me for gods knows how long.

The growls that echoed from its throat were low and vicious. I will admit, a small feeling of guilt came over me as I looked the beast; it didn't realize how far down the hole it truly was. It raised one of its car-sized paws above me and gave a beastly grin. My eyes narrowed on the figure that had long since landed on the back of the hellhound. I exhaled calmly and watched as the hound vanished and golden dust took its place.

A low yawn escaped the figure that was now covered in the remains of the beast. "Nice way to make an entrance, Oswald."

He flinched at the mention of his real name before turning to face me with a tired expression. "My apologies, I almost fell asleep." Ozzy said in a bored fashion.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Just because his dad was the god of dreams gave him no right to fall asleep in a time of crisis. I waited for him to take notice of my hand, which was extended towards him.

He blinked and glanced at me before arching his eyebrow. "The weapon you promised me? I remember asking for it before capture the flag." I mumbled with a scowl.

He blinked silently and studied my face before nodding his head slowly. "Right it must've slipped my mind." Ozzy reached into his backpack and pulled out a medium sized rod. With a flick of his wrist it was coming in my direction — I scrambled and caught it with more effort than it should have taken. Ozzy was a great pitcher apparently.

Ozzy thought it was so funny that he laughed even after I had caught the rod. Once he stopped, it was time for the explanation of how to use the weapon.

"A rather simple weapon made by the Hephaestus cabin. The button in the middle allows it to extend out for better use," he said, pointing at it.

I clicked the button in the middle of the bronze staff and watched both sides extend outward a few feet.

There was a low chuckle from the voice in my head. "_You do like things that extend, don't you Devon?" _

I felt my face heat up and Ozzy gave me a weird look. My mouth opened to respond but, I was cut short by the loud scream that echoed through the air.

Ozzy didn't waste any time and shot off for the forest. With a click of my staff I was following behind him. There was a low hum in the back of my head. I stopped in my tracks aside from the chaos that was currently taking place because of the monster invasion. Something seemed off.

An image seemed to shoot into my head and a jolt of pain shot through my body. In the image, I saw Heather standing atop a mountain inside of camp and opening a large fissure with her powers. From the fissures monsters of every sort slowly began to climb out. The image shorted out after a few more seconds and I found myself breathless.

"What — what the hell was that?"

The voice in my head sounded gently. "_Something it seems you have forgotten._"

I staggered forward, pushing all my questions and pain to the back of my head. My body stumbled a little before regaining its regular pace as I pushed forward into the forest after Ozzy. Strange things were happening at Camp Half-Blood and I needed to figure out what.

Once I arrived at the forest, I could tell something was wrong. There was a weird air that hung around the place and the dead bodies and bloodstains didn't make it any less weird. Ozzy stood in the middle of the carnage with a solemn look on his face. Considering how long he'd been at camp this must've been a sad sight to see. He obviously knew more than half of the bodies.

"Ozzy what happened here?"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye before shrugging his shoulders. "The satyrs were completely killed off. Not even the elders are still around."

I had met a few satyrs in my short time at camp. All of them treated me kindly and didn't seem to like confrontation. They were nice people — or goats I guess. How anyone could bring themselves to kill such noble creatures was truly above my understanding. My eyes shifted over to an arm I saw sticking upward from the ground. I stepped to it and pulled on the hand gently.

"No — No way…"

Ozzy stepped to me and paused when he saw the half-buried body of Annabeth Chase sticking up from the ground. He offered a prayer for her soul before turning away and moving forward. "We have to find a reason behind this."

"_You honestly don't remember what happened here Devon?" _the voice in my head taunted me.

A low rustle caught both of our attentions and our heads snapped in its direction. There was another rustle and out of the mass forest stepped Keith. He didn't look — well, he didn't look like himself. As a child of Apollo he normally always had a certain shine to him. At the moment, he resembled a light fixture missing the bulb. Scratches covered most of his body and he looked like he'd been fighting for his life.

"Keith I'm so glad to see you're okay!"

He glanced up at me before glancing at Ozzy a look of complete despair coming over his face. "Devon," he started softly. "Run while you still can." I arched my eyebrow at his comment. "What're you talking about?"

Ozzy chuckled quietly before stepping past me and shaking his head. "Keith's a little delirious right now. Don't pay him any mind."

The young son of Apollo glanced at Ozzy there was a look of pure fear in his eyes. He shivered before returning his attention to me. "Devon please, we need to get out of here."

Ozzy began to slowly advance towards Keith his hands lowered down to his sword. "Keith you're really overreacting. Why don't you calm down and relax?"

Keith took a step back and gritted his teeth. I glanced at Ozzy and noted the smirk that was coming over his face as he unsheathed his sword. My eyes opened when I looked at Ozzy's weapon: traces of blood rested around the very tip of the blade. Right then, it became obvious to me who I should believe.

"_Taking solar boy's side? Good choice," _the voice in my head whispered.

I reached into my pocket and gripped hold of my rod before pulling it out and clicking the small button that rested in the center. I watched it extend out before moving forward. Once I was close enough I raised my staff into the air and slammed it into the back of Ozzy's head. His body fell limply to the ground without a sound.

My attention turned to the Keith who simply nodded in thanks for actually believing him. Without a second thought he was rushing back into the forest. I blinked and watched him vanish into the overgrowth.

"_Don't stand their like an idiot. Follow him!_" the voice screeched at me. I shot forward in a burst of speed and hoped Keith hadn't gotten to far ahead.

Once I finally caught up him questions began to slowly flood into my head. Sure life as a half-blood was hectic but finding dead bodies seemed a little much. I put a good distance between the two of us before speaking. Not to say I didn't trust Keith, distance just seemed best at the moment. "Mind telling me what the hell is going on around here?"

He glanced at me out the corner of his eye. "I can't say for sure. My memories are cloudy but I know the prophecy has something to do with it." I wanted to ask what the Prophecy was but felt it better that I wait to ask.

Keith hitched a left before stopping in front of what I could only assume used to be the Aphrodite cabin. The light pink glow that once surrounded it had completely disappeared; it looked like an average cabin. Keith and I stepped inside to find Natalya, Nick, and two campers I didn't recognize sitting around.

"Devon, thank the gods you're okay! We thought you'd be dead by now." I glanced at Natalya who sat on top of one of the Aphrodite bunks. She looked different — not to say she didn't look amazing as always. But her looks didn't catch the eye like they used to and the bandages that were coiled around her leg didn't help any.

"What happened to you?"

She glanced down at the bandages before shrugging her shoulders. "Nothing really. A harpy decided my leg was a good source of fiber."

I couldn't help but to laugh. She seemed so upbeat even with everything going on. My eyes landed on the two people I didn't know. "And you two would be?"

The first camper, a girl glanced at me before giving a sweet smile. "Adrianna Vivendi, daughter of Dionysus."

When she spoke the name of her father a loud growl echoed in my head. "_If you killed her, I would be most pleased._" I winced and forced the voice into silence.

With a shift of my eyes I was looking at the male. He winked at me before giving an introduction. "Leon Fowl, currently my godly parent is undecided so ask again later."

I nodded my head before smiling at him. "I'm Devon. A pleasure to meet you."

A burst of wind erupted in the cabin and got everyone's attention. Nick sat quietly on the edge of a bunk, his hand moving in a slow rotation. A minute tornado was forming around his finger. "Sorry to interrupt this little get together but we do have to make a plan. Music boy, if you don't mind?" All attention in the room turned to Keith, who looked rather nervous. He stood up and moved back towards the door of the cabin to allow himself better view of everyone.

"Getting out is our best plan. We need to get out, find some real supplies and figure out what the Hades is going on," Keith said solemnly.

Everyone nodded except Nick, who loved to ruin plans. "How do you plan on getting past the skeleton soldiers at the edge of camp?"

Keith nodded his head. "Good point, we'll need a distraction." The eyes of everyone in the room fell on me. I blinked and sighed quietly. We hadn't even started this damned plan and it already sucked.

**xOx**

I walked steadily towards the barrier of Camp Half-Blood. The afternoon sun was the only friend I had at the moment. My other friends were hiding and waiting for me to see if I would die. Skeleton soldiers stood in front of camps borders, tattered rags hanging over their decayed bodies.

My fingers gripped hold of my staff as I pulled it from my pocket. With a click it was extended to its full length. The skeletons must've had excellent hearing because their heads began to slowly turn in my direction. One by one they began to draw their weapons. Half of the soldiers drew swords and began to rush forward towards me.

The remaining soldiers drew guns from their hoisters; they took aim and began to fire at me. The first wave of soldiers came at me and began to slash. I brought my staff upward and managed to block two swords, my eyes locked onto the third skeleton which was advancing towards me at a rapid pace.

"_No way to block? Try using the spin cycle._"

Following the directions of the voice in my head, I grunted and pushed forward, forcing the first two soldiers backwards. I inhaled and spun my body around in one circle just as the third solider stabbed at me. The spinning allowed me to avoid the sword and gave me a perfect chance to counter. My body came to a halt as I brought my staff around and slammed it into the head of Mr. Skeleton.

"_That was a home run. Now do that to the rest of them." _

I ducked and oncoming bullet before jumping back allowing some space between me and the living dead. "That'll take to long; we need to get out of here now!"

The voice in my head chuckled. "_Want to try things my way for a change?_" I looked over the battlefield taking noticing to the body of one of the skeleton I just cut down getting back to its feet.

With a low sigh I nodded my head. "Let's try it your way." Once I uttered those words a surge of power shot through my body. Wind was swirling around me. For the first time in my life I felt strong. "This is — this is _nice_." I heard a low chuckle in my head and I took it as a sign to try out my new found power.

I was moving forward feeling the wind pushing at my back. My hand shot forward and a burst of wind followed behind it. The sword bearing skeletons didn't stand much of a chance against the ripping wind. My attention fell on the second group of skeletons who began to increase the speed at which they fired on me. I brought my staff upward and slow spun it in attempt to block the bullets. I felt Aura's essence with me as I tried to block the bullets. There was a strong wind that blew in and deflected the bullets that were spiraling in my direction.

A few stray bullets managed to get past my defense and graze my skin. Sure, the pain was there but with the power high I could barely feel any real pain. Once the bullet shower was over I was on the move. Thankfully the soldiers had old fashioned guns and could only fire off a few rounds at a time. I was speeding forward and before I knew it, my staff slammed into the body of one of the soldiers.

I planted my feet harshly in the ground and made a sharp turn. The body of the skeleton moved with my staff and slammed it into the bodies of his comrades. Nothing but a pile of bones lay around me at this point. My bodied wavered for a moment and a bolt of pure pain ran through my body.

"Devon, that was amazing!"

I turned my head to see Natalya being carried by Nick, who looked less the happy about the situation. "Keith," I started with a heavy breath. "Can we leave now?"

Keith nodded his head and began ushering us through the borders of camp. Once he we got outside we were faced with one big problem: making it through the forest of monsters. Ozzy and I managed to make it through during my first trip to camp but with the current situation I don't think any of us were in the right condition to make it.

"Keith," Nick started. "What do you think our chances of making it out alive are?"

Keith glanced at the entire group before glancing back towards the forest. "Making it out alive? Our chances are worse than the chances of my dad _not _getting a woman pregnant every night."

I arched my eyebrow at the statement before glancing over at Adrianna who simply shook her head. "His dad's a heavenly whore; that won't happen in this lifetime."

This entire situation seemed hopeless. I sighed quietly before glancing upward in the sky. A small bird hovered just over head. The concept of a bird flying this close to camp was strange; I watched the small animal take flight before landing on a tree branch.

Before I could blink there was a woman sitting on the branch. Her hand was extended out and the small bird was resting on top of it.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one that sees her." The other group glanced in the direction I was looking in. A smile graced the woman's face and before I knew it she was standing in front of us.

She wore a white dress that lacked a single stain. Blond curls extended from her head and a sweet smile rested on her face.

"_Well, this is interesting. _She_ hasn't been seen in a while,_" the voice in my head spoke on the arrival of the new mystery woman.

The woman curtsied with a bright smile. "I am Aletheia or Verita, the goddess of truth."

Leon arched his eyebrow before chuckling. "A goddess is actually paying us a visit? We must be in some deep shit."

She frowned before nodding her head. "Sad to say, things are starting to change. Old forces are stirring and a war is going to happen soon. But Keith, you know that right?"

The young child of Apollo blinked and stared at the goddess. "I'm sorry? I don't understand what you're talking about."

Verita nodded her head. "I see, they completely filled your heads with lies? Allow me to show you the truth." There was a blinding light that surrounded her and slowly images began to fill my head.

Each image showed something that I felt as if I had already known but couldn't remember. The first image was of the game of capture the flag that we apparently lost. Others showed Keith surrounded with flames uttering what I could only describe as a prophecy. And the final image was of Heather and Zeke summoning monsters inside of camp. Everything finally connected together and the truth was revealed to me.

"I don't understand… They _betrayed_ us? Heather seemed to be my friend."

Verita exhaled quietly, straightening out her dress. "The truth doesn't always feel good. But in the end it helps us."

"Wait," Started Natalya. "What about all the other campers?" Verita placed her hand on Natalya's shoulder before shaking her head gently. "Their minds are being clouded by the lies of another god. I can only purify the minds of those who want to be pure. That's why I reached out to the six of you."

Natalya glanced down at the ground. This meant that there was a possibility that she would see Gabe again but he wouldn't know who she was.

I sighed gently and glanced back at Verita. "What do we do now?"

She smiled at me. "You must move on. The six of you must figure out what's going on with the world. The war must not happen. If the Earth should fall into the hands of the forces that are coming, Hades will look like a paradise. You will see all your friends again but you must put them behind for now."

We all nodded. Verita raised a hand in the air and a golden pathway appeared in the forest. "Take this path into the city. Continue moving on until you come into contact with a good friend of mine. You'll know him when you see him. Good luck young half bloods. You will need it." In an amazing burst of light Verita had disappeared leaving nothing more than feathers behind.

Keith sighed and glanced at everyone. "Let's get moving. Staying here can't be good."

We all nodded our heads in agreement. With a newfound understanding of truth we moved on through the forest. This marked the start of our adventure.


	9. Destruction, spider webs, and shadows

_A/N: Bonjour to you all. How long has it been since you've seen an update for this fic? In any case, I've found the inspiration I needed and I'm now back on track for writing this lovely lil' ditty. Thanks to Mission to Marzipan for inspiring with his beta work and his fics. With all that being said, enjoy._

**Tales of Olympus **

Chapter nine**:**_ Action_

Want to know some things that _really _suck about a demigod? First off, there's the entire thing about being able to see through the Mist. My life was fine back when I was ignorant to the monsters that were out there trying to kill me. Second (and by far one of the most annoying) is our godly parent not being able to help us. I understand that we have to figure out things by ourselves but if a _drakon _attacks it would be nice if we had some help. A bolt lightning now and again wouldn't hurt. Last is something that seems to plague me almost every night — the dreams. I've been asking my group of friends why demigods are forced to experience such realistic dreams — sadly nobody has been able to answer my questions. The one thing that I knew for sure is that I would rather be back in my ward at the mental home than running about trying to save the world.

"_Stop bitching and open your eyes_."

My eyes opened and I found myself within one of the dreams that I hated some much. From what I could tell I was inside of an old style home from the late seventies. In front of me sat Heather Tolintino in all of her dark glory. She traded in her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt for a black tank top and a pair of skinny jeans. To the left of her sat Kieran; he was still dressed in his black commando getup. Heather's eyes shifted in my direction and I thought she knew I was eavesdropping. Her lips curled into a smile and she got to her feet. "Glad to see that you could join us, Landon."

A boy stepped from beside me and smiled at Heather. He had light brown hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to glow even in the dark. "I wouldn't miss this little get together for the world. Where is Zeke? I've been looking forward to seeing him again."

Landon licked his lips when he used Zeke's name, so I could assume that _seeing _Zeke wasn't the first thing on his mind.

Heather chuckled. "You know that Zeke is straight."

Landon arched his eyebrow and smirked. "Who gives a damn? Everyone needs some pleasure in their life and seeing as how I'm a son of Venus I think I'd be perfect for the job."

Venus? Who the hell was Venus? I heard a familiar screech in the back of my mind before my favorite voice spoke to me. "_This is bad_."

Kieran stepped up from beside Heather. "Have the Romans agreed to our terms?"

First talk of Venus and now the Romans. What exactly was going on here? I racked my brain for any information on Ancient Rome only to find that I knew close to nothing. The only thing I knew for sure was that the Romans were a fierce and elite class of warriors.

"They have indeed," Landon said with a nod. "My brothers and sisters agree that it's high time that the gods were put in their place. Lord Saturn has agreed to lend us his power."

Heather smirked at the newfound information. "Fantastic now all we need is the child of the wind and our plan can be put into action." Her eyes shifted from Landon to where I was standing. "We're waiting, Devon."

My eyes widened and before I could do anything I was being transported to a completely different place. Suddenly I was standing in the middle of a large palace with icicles hanging down from the ceiling. A few feet in front of me sat an older man on a throne; he had a beard composed completely of ice and a pair of purple wings that fluttered every so often. He had a pair of blue eyes that seemed to freeze me right down to the core. His lips were curled down into a frown as if he were displeased with something. For some strange reason I knew this guy — I wasn't exactly sure how but I did.

"_Considering he's your uncle one would hope you recognize him._"

"My uncle is a police officer somewhere in Florida."

I heard the voice in my head sigh. "_Your _godly_ uncle._ _That man is Boreas, god of the freezing North wind."_

"Brother, I don't understand why you refuse to assist the Olympians in the upcoming war," a familiar voice said from beside me.

I glanced to the left and found my father glaring at his brother. His sleeves were rolled back just like the last time I saw him — the only real difference was the way he looked. His once brown hair had hints of gray and his young features had aged at least ten years. He went from a cool looking twenty-year-old to a grumpy thirty-year-old.

"What have the fools of Olympus ever done for me? They send us around like flies and make us whip up storms for their amusement. Never once have we ever gotten so much as a _thank you _or a _good job_."

Notus frowned. "We're minor deities brother. Thanking us is below them."

Boreas slammed his hand down onto the arm of his chair and caused the entire castle to shake. "That's the point! We wind gods do more than they ever could — we deserve some respect."

"Oh stop being such a crybaby! It's been this way for eons; don't make it seem like its something new." Notus said with a growl.

The god of the north wind gritted his teeth. "Why have you come here? I hope your _only _reason isn't to annoy the living _Hades _out of me?"

Dad ran a hand through his hair and sighed quietly. "To warn you of the oncoming attack brother. Zephyrs has already been captured and the Eastern wind is next. After they take out the weakest two only you and I shall remain, I think it would best if we joined forces with the Olympians."

Boreas eyes closed and a cold breath passed from between his lips. "I shall consider it — only if it means returning our brothers to their thrones."

Notus nodded his head and turned away from his brother. A fierce wind whipped up around his body as he prepared to take his leave.

"Tell me something brother, how is your son progressing? Is there anything wrong with the child?"

"He's normal as can be," Dad started. "The rings I gave him are keeping everything under control."

I glanced down at the two metal rings that rested on my middle fingers — did they have some other purpose than just making me look a hell of a lot cooler? My father vanished in a burst of wind and I was left alone with the Ice King. Boreas snapped his fingers and a woman appeared before him.

"Khione," Boreas started with a huff. "I want you to go and check on your brother. Make sure everything is going smoothly."

The vixen known now as Khione nodded her head. "As you wish father."

When she was gone an odd thought popped into my mind — Boreas wanted her to go and check on her brother. Did that mean he had a son at camp that I didn't know about? No, that couldn't be right because Nick and I were the only wind kids at Camp Half-Blood. Did that mean there was another place around for demigods? Maybe it was the place where the Romans were taking refuge. Just as things started making sense my body began falling into a tunnel of darkness with a muffled sigh I allowed myself to return to the world of the living.

_Waking up was such a pain in the ass. _

**xOx**

My eyes shot open and I found myself laying on something cold and hard. I extended my right hand and wrapped my fingers around a metal shaft that rested in front of me. The last thing I remember was falling asleep in the forest next to Natalya, now here I was inside of what felt like a metal cage. With a grunt I got to my feet and started looking for a way out. Once I thoroughly examined the cage and made sure that it could only be unlocked from the outside I did what any sensible teenage boy would do in a situation like this: I screamed. Of course it wasn't one of those girly screams. Oh no, I had long since learned how to scream like a man.

"_Funny. Your manly scream sounds a lot like your girly scream_."

I rolled my eyes at the voice's unnecessary comment before taking notice of the voices that were coming from outside of my mind — I mean cage.

"Looks like the pussy finally woke up." The voice that spoke was tough and sounded oddly familiar. Within a few seconds the darkness that covered my cage vanished and was replaced by the ugly face of one of my old friends. "Zeke, what the hell are you doing here?"

My least favorite son of Zeus sneered at me. He tossed the curtain that once covered my cage onto the ground and took a step back. His eyes darted from left to right as he examined my body — I felt like a piece of furniture that was being looked over for the first time. "You still look like a weak piece of shit."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "You still look like an overly egotistical son-of-a-bitch but you don't hear me complaining."

A blast of electricity fired in my direction and slammed against my holding cell. Zeke's eyes were gleaming with a strange anger — I could tell from his expression that he'd electrocute me as soon as he got that chance. "You're lucky that _they _want to keep you around or I'd kill you right now."

"Who exactly are _they_?" I asked with an arched brow.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention and my eyes shifted onto a large black door that rested behind Zeke. There was a small creak and the door opened wide — standing at the door was no other that Gabe Holland, my _least _favorite son of Ares.

"_What is this? The reunion of the people you hate?" _

"They're ready to see him," Gabe said in a voice that reminded me of a brainless zombie.

Zeke glared at me before releasing me from my holding cell. Handcuffs were placed on my wrists and I was pushed off through the door towards a dimly lit room. Spider webs were hanging around the entire room; some of them still had spiders in them. As I passed I could see their eyes shift to onto me — I could even see some of them grin.

"This looks like a place made to scare little children."

Suddenly I realized that there was no one around me. I was talking to myself — _again_. I came to a stop and glanced around in attempt to find another person. It seemed like I was wandering around for hours before I found someone. A little girl in a black dressed stood before me with her eyes closed. She sang a nursery rhyme and didn't seem aware of my presence.

"_The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again_."

My brow furrowed when I realized that the song wasn't being sung in English. Seeing as how that was the only language that I knew there was no way in hell that I should've been able to understand it.

"You're a demigod aren't you, Devon? Ancient Greek is your hotwired into your brain."

I glanced at the girl and found that her eyes were wide open — maybe it was me but, I don't think normal people have glowing red eyes. She shifted from the floor onto her feet and grinned at me. "It's nice to finally meet you; I am Arachne goddess of spiders."

A low screech in the back of my head helped me understand that something wasn't right with this particular goddess. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with you."

Her grin widened. "I didn't think you would be — maybe you it would better if you saw me in a more _familiar _form."

Suddenly her body gleamed with a strange light before completely vanishing. I glanced around and was met with a large pair of glowing red eyes — _eight _glowing red eyes. Out of the shadows stepped a gigantic black widow. I honestly didn't understand how it was able to fit inside of the building, but of course I wasn't going to ask it that.

Normally I wasn't afraid of spiders but when a two hundred foot black widow stares at you like you're a fly in its web there is really only one thing you can do.

_Run fast as fuck._

I didn't exactly know where I was going but any place sounded good right about now. After about five minutes of running I glanced over my shoulder to see that I wasn't being followed. With an exhausted (and some what exaggerated) sigh I slid to a stop in the dark mansion. It seemed as if I had wandered into a different section house — instead of spider webs the walls were filled with holes that looked as if someone had spent their entire life punching away at them. Seeing as how I had no where to go I figured that talking to my favorite voice might be of some use.

"Can you explain what's going on?"

"_Not exactly sure at the moment — Arachne _shouldn't _be able to take on the form of a human." _I could hear the concern in Aura's voice. "_Your _friends_ are dealing with forces that are pre-Olympian. That's the only explanation I can think of._"

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. Things just kept getting worse and worse.

"That's a nifty voice you got there kid, mind explaining how it works?" a voice said from behind him.

My rod was in my hand in a matter of seconds. The sound of footsteps seemed to echo from all around me — I fired a small burst of wind into the darkness and hoped that it would hit whatever was moving. Seconds later the sound of chuckling echoed in my ears; I shifted and came face to face with a pair of crimson eyes. I took a step back which allowed me to take in the full figure of the person before me. He had a buzz cut and looked to be about eighteen. On his torso was a shirt that seemed to shift into armor every few seconds — there was something odd about this guy. It felt as if I had seem him some where before.

"So you're the kid that's supposed to help us destroy Olympus," he said with a smug look.

"_Devon I want you to run." _I ignored the voice and decided it would be best to ask a question.

"Who are you and what do you mean I'll help you destroy Olympus?"

His eyes gleamed with amusement when I asked my question. "I am Perses, Titan of destruction." That explained why the walls were punched in. "How interesting — have they not told you of the prophecy that was given?"

Was he talking about Keith's prophecy? I hadn't been informed about what Keith had foretold because my friends didn't find want to scare me. Maybe it was better that I knew now. "What does the prophecy say?"

Perses grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." He moved towards me before placing two fingers on my forehead — almost instantly a divine choir started to sing in my and slowly the prophecy was clear to me.

"_The destruction of the Olympians will have already begun with those in the air, _

_The haven will be no longer serve its purpose causing widespread fear. _

_It will take the death of a hero to officially start an already lost warfare. _

_Sides will be chosen, but by then it will be too late. _

_All those fighting for the gods will suffer the first hero's fate._"

I took a step back and tried to catch my breath. My eyes were half closed and half locked onto Perses who was still standing in front of me with a demented grin.

"Most of the prophecy is starting to come true." Perses said with a firm nod. "Those flies in the air are being swatted down and captured. That demigod camp has been ransacked. Soon all of the lines will come true, especially the line concerning you."

There was only one line in the prophecy that I even remotely thought involved me. _It will take the death of a hero. _Perses grabbed my chin within his hand and tilted it upward so that I was forced to look at him.

"From what the bosses tell me you're supposed to die in a flash of glory. A true hero's death — I've been thinking about that for a while now. What if I kill you right here and now? It'd save us a lot of trouble in the long run."

The Titan extended his hand out and a double edged sword materialized within a few seconds. "Arachine said she wanted to be the one to kill you — her way is _disgusting_ if you ask me. She wanted to suck out your organs and let her children nest within your body. I on the other hand will make this as painless as possible."

As Perses talked I found that one line of the prophecy seemed to be drawing in all of my attention. _All those fighting for the gods will suffer the same hero's fate_. That line meant that my friends would eventually fall — I had to get out of here. I could give a damn about my life but they had to be saved or at least warned. My eyes locked onto Perses and very slowly a silver light began to form around my body.

I heard Aura chuckle. "_Seconds ago you just wanted to run away — now you want to help your friends? I suppose that's something a true hero would do._"

With a grunt I willed a large burst of air to strike Perses in the chest and sent him sliding back. I could already feel the wind howling behind me and power surging through my body. My hands were trembling with strength — this had to be the best I felt in years.

Peres roared as he glared in my direction. "You should've just let me kill you, kid. Things would've been easier that way."

"Sorry," I grumbled out as I slowly began spinning my staff. "There's been a slight change of plan."

The Titan snapped his fingers and Arachne appeared behind him in her human form. She flashed a twisted smile before advancing towards me. "I want his body, Peres."

I rushed forwards towards the two deities with a tailwind helping me gain speed — once I got within striking distance of Arachne I raised my staff into the air and brought it down towards her with a grunt. To my surprise she blocked my attack with one hand; with a cackle she spewed multiple strands of web in my direction. My free hand moved forward and each of the strings was met head on by a blast of wind. Arachine took a few steps back on account of the fierce winds. "The reports didn't say he could control his powers."

Peres moved around Arachine and prepared to slash at me. I instantly shifted my eyes onto him and summoned a wall of wind to block his attack. When he slashed he was met by a large cushion of air. He gave a low chuckle before moving away from me. "_He's _not the strong one here — that goddess in his head is giving him the power. That means that power will eventually run out. All we have to do is push him to his limits."

Don't you just hate when people figure out your weaknesses?

I took a cautious step backwards as Peres took a step towards me. He grabbed his sword with both hands and before long a crimson glow appeared over the blade. His eyes gleamed with a malicious intent — if there was ever a time that I feared for my life, it would have to be now. Peres rushed towards and began to assault me with a barrage of slashes; thankfully I was able to block _some _of the attacks I took notice of the multiple cuts all along my staff, which in case you missed it was composed of Celestial bronze. Imagine what that _thing _could do to bare flesh.

The Titan of destruction looked like he was in his prime — his eyes were gleaming with energy and they were slowly starting to take on the form of hot coals. With each passing second his moves seemed to get sharper and more accurate which meant that instead of hitting my staff, he was actually hitting _me_. I gritted my teeth, dug my feet into the ground, and tried my best to keep up with his attacks.

"_Devon,_" the voice in my head screeched. "_Try going on the offensive." _

My body quickly shifted itself into autopilot (that might I add is the _best_ part of being a demigod) and suddenly I sidestepped Peres attack. His sword hit the ground which created the perfect opening for me attack. I brought my staff backwards like it was a baseball bat and came forward with a swing. Of course it didn't work, because while I was busy fighting against Peres his friend was busy thinking of a way to stop me. Just as I was about to hit the Titan in the head my staff was yanked from my hand. My eyes shifted over in the direction which my weapon flew — I met Arachne's twisted grin and knew that I had made a mistake.

"_Look out!" _The voice screeched. I snapped my head back onto Perses just as his sword slashed down my torso. There was this really strange liquid that started filling my mouth — my body quivered and before long I was on my knees coughing up blood. The silver glow that once covered my body vanished and Aura's voice went from a loud yell to nothing more than static in the back of my head.

Perses chuckled. "I told you he wasn't tough." Arachne dropped my staff in front of me before joining her comrade with a snarl. "You better hope none of his internal organs are damaged — I had intentions of making a nice soufflé with his liver."

This was not how I expected my life to end. With a groan I reached towards my staff — there was cackle from above and before I knew it there was a large sword stuck in my hand. I wanted to scream but the sound got caught some where in the back of my throat. Peres pulled his sword out of my hand and raised it over his head with demented grin. He lowered it down and at that moment I closed my eyes. _My life was over_.

"Gods damn it. I'm really bad at this entire _timing _thing." A new voice said from in front of me. I cracked my eyes open to find vines composed completely of shadows swaying from right to left all around me. In front of me stood a very pissed off looking Peres and someone that I didn't recognize. The newcomer wore jeans, a black shirt, and a black sweater vest to match. He glanced back at me before sending a wave of shadows forward at Peres and Arachne. Both of the deities were overwhelmed and disappeared in a sea of black.

"You're Devon Hill, right?" he asked while raising his hand into the air. The vines began to coil around my body and pull me down into the darkness. I nodded my head weakly. His eyes seemed to fill with glee as I was pulled under. "I'm Gavin Crane, son of Erebus, god of darkness. Lady Verita sent me here to assist you."

Somewhere in the back of my brain I jumped for joy, because this meant I would _hopefully _live another day. My body was taken into the darkness by the shadows and a few seconds after I gave into the cooling feel of the dark by doing the most heroic thing I knew how to do. _I passed out_.


	10. Take a left at twister town

_**A/N**: Here we go! We're almost to the end and I think with each chapter it makes me sadder to see the end of my first ever fic. In anycase, I thank everyone who has reviewed and favorited this little ditty. Now onto the good stuff._

**Tales of Olympus **

Chapter ten: _Broken_

The sound of the howling wind filled my ears and I couldn't help but to flash a smile. There was something about the feeling of a strong breeze pushing up against my back that made me feel _almost _relieved — I would've been completely relived had it not been for the gargantuan black widow that was chasing after me.

Along with the mother of all spiders, there were multiple tarantulas on either side of me that looked like they had been deprived of meals for a few thousand years. Now when I say tarantulas don't think of those little arachnids that you can kill just by stepping on them. Oh no — these things were about the size of a large grizzly bear, but each time one of the beasts jumped out a shadow would slice it in half before it could do any real damage. My eyes shifted from the multiple enemies around me onto the dark figure that was running ahead of me.

"How much longer do we have?" I asked. We had been running for what felt like hours and it didn't seem like we were getting any closer to this secret place.

Gavin glanced over his shoulder at me and I could tell he was getting tired of my constant questions. "Won't be long now," was the only response I was able to get out of him.

A loud cackle echoed from behind me and I cringed when I recognized the voice. It was none other than my friend Perses the Titan. With the irritating cackling the sound of thunder boomed off somewhere in the distance, which made me believe that Zeke was chasing us as well. I returned my attention back to the path before me and I was greeted by three tarantulas — it seemed Gavin was moving too fast for his shadows to keep up with some of them.

Seeing as how I lost my staff (I wanted to give a special thank you to Perses for that) I had been forced to borrow a weapon from Gavin. The son of Erebus had given me a hunting knife that was made out of gold. I didn't know where he got the weapon from but after I sliced through the first tarantula I was convinced it would work just fine. One of the two remaining beast leapt towards me and was met by a stab right to its cluster of eyes; it turned into golden dust seconds afterwards.

"Seems like I'm actually pretty good with this thing. Maybe I'm not a complete failure."

There was a chuckle in the back of my brain that helped me know a certain voice was back. "_Your patron is a goddess of the hunt_. _Don't you think using a _hunting_ knife would come natural?_"

I ignored the voice because I wasn't in the mood to admit that Aura was right. With another slash I was chasing after Gavin and trying to block out the thunderous footsteps that were coming from behind me. The idea of Arachne catching up with me didn't seem all that appealing. Once Gavin was back in my sights I felt a little calmer — I sped up so that I was only a few feet behind him. He tilted his head and smirked. "When I tell you to duck do it, alright?"

Something about his expression had me worried — what the hell was he planning to do? After about ten minutes of running I heard Gavin shout. "Hit the deck!" I slid to a halt and ducked down just as two arrows flew over my head. My head turned back and I was greeted by the sight of Arachne getting hit in the legs (her first two in case you're wondering). She screeched and quickly shifted back into her human state — the sight was actually sort of funny. A goddess that looked like an eight year old, sitting on the ground screaming because of arrows to the knees. "My children will feast on your corpses!"

Gavin stood up and brushed himself off. His eyes scanned the forest for a brief second and then I saw his face flatten. A few seconds after that Perses appeared beside Arachne with a grin — lightning struck the ground and suddenly Zeke was standing in front of the spider goddess. "Finally we caught the two you — Gavin it's been a while."

The son of Erebus flipped him off and pulled his sword out of his sheath. Zeke drew his blade and pointed it at us. "Do you really think that the likes of you can take the three of us?"

"What? You expect me to fight you?" Gavin asked with a snicker. "I'm not the brawn of this operation. That's _his _job."

Almost on cue a figure jumped out of the bushes and rushed towards Zeke. The son of Zeus wasn't prepared for the onslaught of punches that were being aimed at his face — he blocked the first two that came towards him but the third hit its mark and sent him flying back into a tree. In front of me stood a male that looked to be at least six foot one. His hair was one big mess of dark brown and he wore a grin on his face.

Gavin shook his head at the arrival of the new person. "You're late."

The male turned towards us. "You're one to talk! Had you met them in the forest like you were supposed to we wouldn't be in this mess."

"I would keep this argument going but I don't think your pea brain would be able to handle it," Gavin said before turning to me. "Devon, this is Brock Flay, son of Hercules and Lady Verita's second knight."

There was something about Brock that didn't seem right to me. When I heard the name _Hercules _I thought of this overly buff guy that could destroy mountains with his pinky finger. Brock didn't seem to have huge muscles or anything like that (not that I was checking him out). He looked like a regular guy that didn't comb his hair. Of course, Aura was there to clear up my confusion or rather make it worse. "_You're getting your gods mixed up. _Heracles _was the muscular egotist_. Hercules _is nothing like his Greek counterpart._"

The entire concept of the Roman and Greek gods was still cloudy to me — I was going to ask someone about this whenever I wasn't in mortal danger. Brock greeted me with a nod before turning back towards Perses and his group. "Natalya and Keith are waiting for you at the edge of the forest. The three of you will be heading to Ohio. Your other friends are being held captive there."

Gavin stepped up beside Brock. "We'll hold these fuckers off so get going."

Peres roared. "We won't let him get away again!" He summoned his blade and leapt forward towards us — I shouldn't really say _us _because when he jumped he aimed his sword at _me_. Gavin blocked the stab that was going towards my chest with his sword; he pushed forward and knocked the Titan backwards. Arachne was back on her feet and she looked _pissed_. She let out a demonic scream and shifted into her true form — Brock let out a snort before rushing forward towards the large spider. I would've honestly loved to stand there and watch was about to happen but I thought it was better that I ran.

I took off into the forest and glanced over my shoulder occasionally to make sure I wasn't being followed. Flashes of lightning moved all across the sky and before I knew it a thunderstorm was brewing. In the distance, I heard Arachne let out a blood curdling scream — it sounded like she was in some intense pain. With a content sigh I summoned a tailwind and moved forward.

It took me about five minutes to reach what appeared to be the edge of the forest. My eyes shifted constantly as I searched for any sign of my friends — I stopped searching when I laid eyes on a familiar figure running towards me. Gabe really didn't seem like himself as he charged at me from across the large clearing. His normal cocky grin was replaced by a completely blank expression. He raised his axe into the air above my head and brought it down with a grunt. I rolled out the way with a few seconds to spare and sent a blast of wind up right at his face. The son of Ares didn't budge — this was going to be a challenge.

"He's over here Keith!" I glanced up to find Natalya proceeding towards me. She made eye contact with Gabe and froze instantly. Natalya looked normal again; she had that amazing glow around her body and her leg was healed. The only problem with her now was the pained expression that was plastered on her face as she looked at Gabe. Slowly, she moved towards him. "Gabe is that you — can you hear me?"

Gabe didn't react to her words; instead he crouched down like he was getting ready to pounce. My fingers hovered over the hilt of my knife and I waited for Gabe to make a move. Natalya continued to move towards her ex-boyfriend — when she got within two feet of the son of Ares he slashed at her waist. Thankfully Natalya leapt backwards and avoided being cut in her half. Her facial expression hardened as she pulled a tube of lipstick out of her back pocket. "Looks like what Brock said was true — they're using you like a puppet."

She charged at her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend, whatever), raised her sword, and slashed at him like it was the most natural thing in the world. Gabe parried Natalya's attack before moving in and going for another slice — this time Natalya was the one to block. The two seemed to dance around each other in the darkness of the forest. It would've been a magnificent sight to behold if you removed those pointy swords. When Gabe started to gain the advantage I decided it was time to make a move. I moved forward towards the son of Ares right when he raised his axe into the air and with a grunt, I stabbed my knife into the side of his torso. His axe fell and his body joined a few seconds afterwards. My eyes shifted onto Natalya who was looking at me like I was the worst person she had ever seen.

"I'm sorry—"

She cut me off. "Forget about it. If he continued like he was going I would've had to attack him eventually. Thanks."

I nodded my head and followed her out of the forest. Keith stood waiting for us — his face lit up when he saw me. His eyes quickly shifted to Natalya and I'm sure he could see the sadness in her eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing at all," Natalya said before putting a smirk on her face. "Devon just saved me from a monster; guess there is a first time for everything."

"If I'm not mistaken this is the _second _that I've saved your ass."

Keith could see that a debate was brewing so he decided to cut in. "I think we should start moving. Ohio is a long way from here."

Both Natalya and I nodded. "How are we getting to Ohio?"

Natalya's smirk shifted into her regular devious grin. "Brock and Gavin are letting us borrow their usual means of transportation."

"Which is?"

She pointed her finger into the air and I looked up to see two giant… were those _lions_ hovering above us? It clicked in my mind when the beast landed on the ground. "Are these things griffins?"

Keith nodded. "Lady Verita's symbol is the feather. She has a thing for griffins apparently."

I was about to nod, then I realized there were only two griffins. "Shouldn't there be three because there are three of us?"

The daughter of Aphrodite arched her eyebrow. "Verita has _two _knights. You'll be riding with me. I only have onerule: I don't want to feel _anything _poke me below the belt."

My face lit up like a light. Natalya winked at me and Keith laughed. After everything calmed down, we boarded the griffins and took off into the air. If you've never had the opportunity to ride on a griffin, I suggest you try. The feeling of flying through the air while the warm feathers tickle your skin is simply amazing — or it would've been if I wasn't on the verge of falling asleep. Apparently, passing out and actually sleeping is two different things. With a quiet sigh I rested my head against Natalya's back and ignored the comment I'm pretty sure she directed at me. Something about not letting my other head touch her. Have I mentioned that I _really_ hateNatalya sometimes? After about five minutes, my eyes closed and I was being swallowed by a familiar darkness.

**xOx **

I opened my eyes to the familiar sound of screaming. With a groan I pulled myself out of the slumped sleeping position I was in and glanced around. In front of us was an army compiled of demigods on winged horses and beasts that I instantly recognized as harpies. At the front of the army was a teenage boy who was flying thanks to a pair of wings on his back. He wore a black toga and a crown on his head. His lips were curled into a wide smirk as he looked down at us. "It seems we have you outnumbered, demigods. Why don't you surrender now and we'll make your deaths painless?"

Natalya sneered. "Who, or rather _what, _are you?"

The male gasped. "I'm appalled daughter of Aphrodite. One would think you'd recognize Lord of the Sky."

There was an immediate tug in my stomach and I shouted. "You're not Zeus!"

"_Aside from using the wind, is one of your powers being overly obvious?" _

Keith pulled an arrow from his quiver before growling. His eyes were gleaming with a strange light and his face was curled into a scowl. It looked like he knew the boy in front of us — he raised his bow and fired the arrow towards the unknown male. The boy caught the arrow before it had a chance to do any real damage; he crushed it in his hand and laughed. "Not nearly as strong as the arrows your father uses."

"I figured you'd know that better than anyone, _Icarus_, seeing as how he shot you down when you tried flying towards Olympus."

For some reason the name Icarus clicked in my head — I had heard the name somewhere before but I couldn't remember where. I shifted my attention to Keith and asked. "Who is this guy?"

Keith loaded his bow again. "He's just a loser who tried to fly with the birds using a pair of wax wings. He got too close to my father's chariot and got burned. It was thought that he fell to his death."

Icarus chuckled. "I did indeed but my mistress saw it fit for me to make a return! In return for my services, she gave me _real _wings and promised that I would someday rule the skies!"

He raised his hand into the air and I could feel the wind start to pick up around him. A blue glow appeared within the palm of his hand before extending out into a sword. "Now my comrades, charge!"

The demigods and monsters raised their swords and rushed towards us in one large wave. Natalya had our griffin rush forward to meet the raging hoard; Keith on the other hand flew up into the air to take on Icarus. "Devon when we get close enough, try stealing one of their horses."

Stealing a horse? That sounded like it involved jumping off my safe spot on the griffin and attacking one of the demigods in mid air. With a load groan I fired two bursts of wind towards a few oncoming opponents and let our griffin devour the harpies that were trying to attack us. My chance to steal a Pegasus was coming up. I decided it would be best to try and make this thing go smoothly.

"I'm going," was all the warning I gave to Natalya before I leapt off the griffin and dived towards what I thought would be the weakest demigod to steal a horse from. Unlike her comrades, this girl was on the ground with a Pegasus — I wasn't exactly sure why but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take it away from her. As I was freefalling I made sure to send out multiple blasts of wind towards anyone who was heading in my direction. Normally I would be worried about falling to my death but for some reason the air around me seemed to slow my decent and helped convince me that this wasn't as dangerous as I had originally planned. Once I got within range of the girl I summoned a cushion of wind and landed with a quiet thud. She turned towards me and charged with a loud yell. I cocked my hand back and sent a nice burst of wind in her direction. Her body slid backwards which allowed me a great chance to step over her body and hop onto the horse. "How exactly does thing work?"

The Pegasus snarled at me before spreading its wings and shooting off into the air. After the first five minutes of riding I got the distinct impression that this creature had something against me — it kept trying to roll in midair and toss me onto the ground. Most of the demigods around me didn't get a chance to attack on account of the crazy motions that the horse bird was taking me through. We finally managed to sync together and I was able to attack some of the people who were laughing at me earlier. Occasionally, I would glance upward at Keith, who was flying around firing arrows at Icarus — he didn't seem to be having much success and something told me he would need my help.

I rushed forward towards another demigod and tried firing a burst of wind at him only to find that someone the wind bent around his body. He smirked from under his helmet and raised his hand into the air — from the left of me I felt a wall of wind slam into my body. My Pegasus groaned in resistance to the wind and tried keeping us in the air. The demigod chuckled before moving his hand in a circle; I felt a barrage of wind hit me in every direction and the next thing I knew I was soaring through the air _without _my noble steed. My body came to a complete stop in the air and the demigod rose up on his horse right in front of me.

"Nice to see you're doing well Devon."

I automatically recognized the voice. "Nick? What the hell are you doing here?"

The son of Aelous removed his helmet before chuckling. "What does it look like? Following orders."

This wasn't making any sense — Nick was supposed to be with Adrianna and Leon locked up some where in Ohio. He grinned at my confused look before speaking. "Don't tell me you _honestly _believed I was helping you losers. The Prince of the Winds doesn't have any reason to wallow on the ground with worms like you."

He pulled out a medium-sized dagger before moving towards me. Normally I would've done the smart thing and moved out of the way — however, seeing as how there was this strange wind keeping me in place, moving wasn't an option. I glanced past Nick as he advanced and couldn't help but to smile. "You might want to move."

Nick arched his eyebrow before turning around. Right when he turned he was met with a hard elbow to the face courtesy of my _favorite _daughter of Aphrodite. The son of Aelous didn't have a chance as Natalya rammed into his Pegasus and sent both of them spiraling towards the ground. Natalya caught me on her griffin and returned me safely to my steed; once I was back in action we took off downwards to go give Nick a piece of our minds. When we reached the ground he was lying in the dirt and his Pegasus was no where to be found. I hopped off my horse, pulled out my hunting knife, and moved towards Nick. He groaned before attempting to stand up — when he did the hilt of Natalya's sword hit him right in the chest and forced him back down.

"Who are you working for Nick?" Natalya asked as she put her sword to his neck. His eyes shifted from her onto me and a grin appeared on his lips. "The sun and the moon of course."

"You expect us to believe that you're working for Artemis and Apollo?" I asked with an arched brow.

Nick snickered. "I said _the_ sun and moon. Artemis and Apollo aren't shit compared to their predecessors."

"What do you mean predecessors? They're only gods that have ever ruled over their specific domains."

The voice in my head and Nick said the same thing at the exact same time  
: "_Bullshit_."

Then, a fierce wind whipped up around his Nick's body — he raised his hand into the air and fired a miniature twister at Natalya. She cried out as her body flew across the field before landing with a hard thud a few feet away from us. Nick quickly shifted his attention from where Natalya once stood onto me; he shifted to his feet, cocked back his fist, and punched me right in my face. I stumbled backwards but that didn't stop Nick from coming forward and punching me in my gut — I grunted before falling back on my butt. He stood over me with a smug grin and pulled out his dagger again. "You shouldn't worry. I don't plan on killing you."

With a low groan I spat out a good amount of blood and glared up at him. "Then why exactly are you doing this?"

He shrugged his shoulders and spun his dagger. "Because _they _want you alive and, unlike Perses, I refuse to disobey their wishes."

My brow slowly started to twitch (which was a complete bummer because I thought I had _finally _ditched that bad habit). "Who in the hell are _they_!"

"I've already told you, the son and the moon." He raised the dagger and brought it down towards me. My stomach tugged and I managed to summon a wall of wind to stop his dagger from coming at me. His eyes gleamed with amusement before I brought my hand forward and sent him flying with a powerful burst of wind. I got to my feet and rushed forward towards my foe.

Nick met me with a growl somewhere in the middle of the field — next thing I knew we were clashing weapons and aiming attacks at each other's bodies like we'd been doing it for years. For some reason, fighting Nick was different than fighting Gabe or Ozzy — it seemed that I knew all of his moves and he knew mine. Every time I raised my hand to fire a blast of wind at him he was doing the same to me.

"_This shouldn't be a surprise to you_," the voice said. _"You and Nick are children of wind gods. You each have the winds pushing you forward. That doesn't mean you can't win this fight — it involves using your powers in a more creative way_."

What was more creative than summoning burst of winds and sending your opponents flying?

"_Don't you remember what Chiron called your father?" _

My brain clicked into overdrive and I found myself trying to remember what Chiron said to me. In the back of my mind, there was something about being the bringer of storms — I didn't see why that was all that important unless…

"You expect me to summon a storm?"

"_Your father is the bringer of spring storms. Tornadoes are one of his personal favorites. He's the reason Texas isn't considered a vacation spot during the spring." _

Nick's eyes locked onto mine and I could tell he saw the plan that was slowly starting to form in my brain. If I could summon a twister big enough it could take out most of the demigods here — the only problem with that was I wasn't in control of the one I'd summoned last time. To say that I was nervous about summoning another would've been the understatement of the century.

With a sigh, I let my body shift into autopilot and let the demigod side of my brain take over. Everything after that was a complete blur — one minute I'm ducking under one of Nick's punches and the next minute I'm back on my Pegasus shooting up towards the sky. When I got high enough up I raised both my hand into the air and had my stallion fly in slow circles.

"What the Hades are you doing?" Natalya screamed up at me.

"I've got a stupid plan in my head — I need you and Keith to keep these guys away from me for a while."

She nodded her head before slashing an enemy demigod in the chest. I shifted my attention to Keith who was doing battle with Icarus; he would fire arrows at the young boy and then move in to slash with a small dagger. Icarus seemed to be having a hard time keeping up because his wings had pieces missing and his toga had multiple rips. The sound of thunder echoed in my ears and I glanced up at the sky to see a large spiraling cloud moving down towards the ground. I could feel the wind picking up and apparently so could some of the opposing demigods — the sight must have been awe-inspiring. My body was slowly starting to weaken and I had to concentrate on keeping the twister moving down towards the ground. When I got the lower part of the funnel cloud on the ground I met some frustrating opposition.

"So this is what you were planning!" I glanced down at the ground and saw that Nick was the reason my twister wouldn't strike down. He was pouring everything he had to holding the twister up and forcing it back into the air. There was no way in hell (or _Hades _if you prefer) that I could keep this up for much longer — Nick was more experienced than I was at using his powers.

"_Don't tell me you're giving up so soon." _

I could feel a strange power flow through me and suddenly I was matching Nick. My teeth gritted and with a loud growl (it was more of whimper but growl sounds tougher) I was able to push the twister onto the ground. It made contact and every demigod in the area looked up in the air with fear. My creation sucked everything within range into its center — pulling and ripping apart anything that got within a few feet of its destructive path. With a content sigh I leaned forward on my stallion and heard it neigh with compassion.

Natalya flew up beside me. "Since when can _you _do _that_?"

My shoulders shrugged and I saw Icarus getting sucked down into the tornado.

Keith flew down to us and smirked at me. "Seems like someone has been eating their red meat. Now, if you don't mind, I plan to burn this thing down." He pulled a light green arrow out his quiver and aimed it down at the tornado. Keith let the arrow fly into the twister and told us it would be best if we moved on.

After about ten minutes of flying we all looked back to see the twister fade and a large explosion of green take its place. Natalya glanced over at Keith. "Greek fire arrows I assume?"

The son of Apollo nodded. "Birthday gift from my dad, 'bout time I put them to use. There won't be a demigod left when those flames die down."

I yawned and sat up before glancing in the opposite direction of the green flames. A dark sky loomed in the horizon with thunder and lightning crackling in almost every direction. It was clear to me that this is where our journey truly began — normally I would've high tailed it back to the mental asylum and hid under the covers at any sign of opposition. For some reason, I didn't have the urge to do that this time around, I mean I just summoned a twister for Christ's sake (or… Would it be Zeus's sake?)

"Can you guys do me a favor?"

Natalya and Keith glanced at me. "What is it?"

"Don't let me get kidnapped again. Whenever we get separated I always come back to some big battle that normally ends in me almost dying."

"You're the perfect diversion, wind boy." Natalya said with a snicker.

I snorted before laying my head back down and closing my eyes — I wasn't going to sleep; just resting my eyes (or at least that's what I told Natalya and Keith). Before I knew it, we were heading off to Ohio to recover the rest of our group but, for some reason, there was this strange feeling in the back of my brain. Something wasn't right and it had been that way for a while. I'm not sure what it was but, seeing as how I'm a demigod, I was sure it would eventually manifest itself in some psychotic way.

_That's how life goes for a demigod I guess…_


	11. The sun burns and time stops

**A/N:****_Here we are! The last and final chapter of Tales of Olympus. I'm sad to say that it's finished but, I'm happy to see that I finally got it done. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, Favorited, and_****_ encourged me to update this fic. As always thanks to my Wonderful Beta  for all his help with this series. Well guys, here go. One last time, with some feeling!_**

**Tales of Olympus **

Chapter Eleven: _Pumped_

Dying isn't really something that I've feared. I've always known that at some point or another my day would come and I would pass on into the next life — of course I never thought it would be doing anything heroic or dangerous. I had always thought I would die alone in an alley somewhere; the thought of falling to my death with a seven hundred thousand pound giant scorpion waiting below me never crossed my mind at all.

My eyes shifted up to the sky where my noble steed was currently being ripped to shreds by a large dragon. Keith and Natalya were nowhere to be found and I had the _strangest_ feeling that the daughter of Hades that was riding atop the dragon had something to do with that. When you're falling to your death you have a lot of time to think — you actually see your life flashing before you eyes.

As I fell down past the Golden Gate Bridge everything I had ever done slipped into my mind and it was at that point that I realized that I hadn't really done _shit_ with my life. All of the memories were of being bullied somewhere in the mental ward or of me running away from a fight. There was nothing that I could be proud of — nothing that would make people remember me, nothing that would make my _father _proud of me. I felt the winds whip up around me almost as if they were trying to tell me something. When I did died I had always imagine people saying: "_Hey __it__'__s __that __kid __who __sat __in__ the __corner __and __chewed __his__ hair_."

Aura chuckled in the very back of my brain. "_Why don't you try doing something with your life? You always make everything so damn difficult." _

My eyes wandered back down towards the giant scorpion and I felt my hand slowly reach down towards my hunting knife — I couldn't run away from this like I had done everything else in my life. This would be something that I'd have to face head on. I slowly began bending the wind around my body and soon enough I found myself hovering over the large railroad track where the scorpion stood.

The scorpion tilted its head and tried reaching up towards me only to find that I was out of reach — however, that didn't mean _it _was out of _my_ reach. I inhaled all the air that my lungs could handle before exhaling a strong gale force wind that sent the giant beast sliding backwards along the ground. Heather seemed to notice me because the dragon was sending fire balls in my direction, as if this wasn't hard enough as it was.

There was a familiar tug in the pit of my stomach and suddenly a solid wall of wind helped to block the fire balls. Just as I was about to release a burst of wind at Heather, the scorpion sent its tail flying up in my direction and wrapped it around me. Next thing I knew my body was being slammed into the ground and all the wind was knocked right out of me.

Black circles began to dance in my vision as I felt myself being lowered to the ground. The scorpion released me and I could make out Heather's figure coming towards me — red flames danced in my field of vision as a blast of fire flew towards me. "Just accept it Devon! You're the one that's going to help us bring down Olympus and there isn't a thing you can do to stop it!"

I saw an arrow fly towards the dragon and hit it right in the eye. The beast roared in pain before spiraling down towards the ground. With a low grunt I stood to my feet and managed to _force_my body to move away so I wouldn't be crushed. An arm grabbed me and yanked me to the air — never in my life did I think I would be so happy to see Natalya. She flashed me a smirk before ascending into the air with the help of her griffin. "Where the hell have you been?"

"On our way here, Heather managed to distract Keith and me with the help of some _shadowy_ fiends. Solar boy managed to get us out."

I glanced over and found Keith loading his bow. His brow was furrowed in a look of aggravation. "Am I the only person that noticed all the water is missing?"

Natalya and I gave a simultaneous gasp as we took in the sight of the Golden Gate Bridge without any water below it. There was, however, a large hole in the center that gleamed with a green light and reeked of death. My eyes instantly shifted onto Heather who was looking at the hole as if it was the most gorgeous thing in the world. I stared it for a second and I _swore_ that I saw a hand reach up out of the pit.

"She's forcing open a hole to the Underworld," Keith said through gritted teeth. "Then she_ is_ partially responsible for this."

My brow arched up instantly. "Mind explaining who she is?"

"My _bitch _of a girlfriend," he growled.

Once her dragon had snapped out of its painful daze, Heather was zooming up towards us again. There was, however, one thing that didn't make sense to me. In the dream I had a while back, Heather wasn't the only one working for the Titans — there were other demigods on her side. While it was true that we left Zeke back in New York with Gavin and Bobby, I just couldn't help but feel as if there was something or someone we were overlooking. "_It__'__s __a __trap!_"

My eyes widened when a bullet shot directly through the wings of Keith's griffin. It bellowed in pain before shooting towards the ground. Here is one thing about Keith that _everybody_ needs to know: he _always_ has a plan. He loaded his bow with an arrow, tied a rope to the end, and fired it at the Golden Gate Bridge. While his steed was in the process of falling, he hopped off, and shimmied to safety. Once Keith made it to safety my eyes shifted up in the air to find Kieran standing on a large snake with a pair of leathery bird wings — behind him stood someone that I recognized all to well.

"Benjamin," I said breathlessly. It had been forever since I had last seen the gorgeous son of Eris. His bleach blonde hair had grown since I last saw him and was being secured tightly in a ponytail — he was wearing this shirt that showed off his physique in _just _the right way…

"Devon," Natalya's voice snapped me out of my daze. "Close your mouth and stop drooling."

Kieran raised his pistols and flashed that asshole smirk of his. "Nice to see that you're still alive, Devon. I suppose this means the honor of killing of you will be mine."

Having people continuously tell you that they're going to kill you starts getting old after a while. My hands came together and I summoned an orb of air around Natalya and myself so when the bullets flew they ricocheted in every direction. For a split second I met Benjamin's eyes and he flashed me this _really_ sexy smile before zooming down towards us.

I glanced over for a brief second and found that Keith was fighting Heather from his position on the tower which meant that I wouldn't have to worry about her for a while. Once I returned my attention back to the front I found that Benjamin was zooming towards me. He slammed his spear tip into my barrier and a blast of electricity flew at the griffin. The noble creature didn't have a chance.

Natalya and I were free falling towards the ground with Kieran firing shots towards us. There was this strange look on her face that I had never seen before and I'm pretty sure it would normally be described as _fear_. This was the first time I had ever seen Natalya express anything other than confidence and that's when it became obvious to me that she was actually afraid of dying — obviously not everyone accepted it like I did. My hand extended out as I grabbed her hand and forced the winds to hold both of us up — her brow arched up instantly. "I didn't realize you could fly."

"Neither did I. Apparently I'm _useful_."

Just as I was about to fly up a bullet grazed my arm and sent us twisting towards the ground. I tried to focus on the winds only to find that my pain was so much greater than my ability to concentrate. Had it not been for a friend saving our asses, we'd be dead. I felt a strong arm coil around my waist and Natalya gasped just about the same time I did. A strong wind swirled underneath us and sent us shooting up onto one of the towers, once we were secure I stepped backwards to find Leon grinning at us.

"Leon," Natalya screamed. "I thought you were being held hostage!"

He smirked. "My father _finally _decided to claim me and I was able to break out. I also brought a friend."

Almost on cue vines shot out of the ground and helped to pull Heather down onto the bridge but her dragon wasn't so lucky. Vines wrapped around the beast's wings and sent it slamming down right into the scorpion that had attacked me earlier. The two creatures exploded into clouds of golden dust instantly. Adrianna slid down from the top of one of the horizontal towers that expanded out of the bridge and landed beside us before brushing a strand of brown hair from her face. "Miss me?"

Natalya squeezed the daughter of Dionysus with everything she could muster. I nodded to her before glancing at Leon.

"Who is your father?" I asked. To be honest the question had been something I had wanted an answer to since we first met.

"Lelantus, god of the hunt and lord of the lower air, father to the goddess that's living in your head."

"_I__ knew __there __was __a__ reason __I__ liked __that __boy,_" Aura said. I rolled my eyes before turning my attention onto Benjamin and Kieran who had decided to join us on the bridge. Heather broke free of the vines before joining her companions. For some strange reason I felt my lips curling into a smile. "It seems like we have you beat Heather, five of us to three of you."

This earned a low chuckle from Kieran. "Do you honestly think you can beat us? We have a _Hades_ of a lot more experience than the five of you put together."

Keith drew an arrow before flashing the son of Phrike a smirk. "I beg to differ. Natalya, Leon and I have been at camp nearly as long as the three of you.

"I've always wanted the chance to wipe that smug smirk off your face, music boy."

Kieran raised his guns at Keith and prepared to fire only to have Heather stop him. "There is only one thing we want," Heather growled. "Focus on taking down Devon!"

The three of them split up. Leon drew a hunting knife from his waist that was almost as long as my arm and charged in at Heather with Keith a few inches behind him. Natalya popped off the top of her lipstick and moved forward towards Kieran with Adrianna. That left me to take on _one_ person. I spun my knife slowly as Benjamin stepped towards me with his spear tip sparking with electricity. There was something about the way he was looking at me that gave me a strange set of chills. He flashed me a dark smile. "You look a lot tougher than the last time I saw you."

"People have been trying to kill me for weeks now; it was either get tough or die."

"Well then," Benjamin said while charging at me. "Show me just how tough you are."

He shoved his spear in my direction and I deflected it with the tip with my knife — I cocked my hand back before sending a burst of wind in his direction. Benjamin slid backwards on the ground with a smirk working its way onto his lips. "Looks like you've gotten better at controlling the wind. Remember when all you could do make a small breeze?"

I felt heat flood to my cheeks. Honestly he didn't have to bring up the old days. So what, I used to only be able to make trees sway from left to right (when concentrating) who cares? My teeth gritted together and I rushed him, my hunting knife clashed against the base of his spear — Benji (that was the name I'd call him by if we ever dated, I'm a dreamer so what?) pushed forward some and spun around before sending the tip of his spear towards my stomach.

A wall of wind materialized in front of me and stopped him mid thrust. His brow arched up as I sliced through the wind sending a powerful blast right at his head — he flew backwards a few feet and slid to a stop at the edge of the bridge.

"_Finish__ the__ job!_"

A fierce wind swirled around my blade as I stepped towards Benjamin — I raised it up and sent it flying down towards his chest. My blade was met half way by the tip of his spear — blasts of wind and electricity flew out in every direction. I could feel my arm starting to go numb from being so close to the electrical discharges; soon I wasn't even able to control my arm anymore. Benjamin seemed to take notice of that, he slammed his shoe into my stomach and sent me sailing. Once I regained my footing I saw that my foe (Aura says that _crush_would be a better word) was standing and strolling towards me.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you Devon," he said while spinning his spear gently in his hand. "You don't seem to understand the definition of hopelessness."

"I understand it just fine," I countered. "The voice in my head just doesn't let me give into it."

Seeing as he laughed I'm assuming that he found my sentence to bizarre. His body shifted from left to right and soon he was rushing in towards me — I tried stepping out of the way as his spear shot towards me only to find that he wasn't aiming for my stomach. The spear tip hit my leg and sent a jolt of electricity through my entire body; Benjamin smirked as I fell limply against him. I won't ever admit that I liked being close to him because of how cool his body felt against mine. He picked me up in his arms and the next thing I knew I was heading towards the edge of the bridge.

Everything that happened next was one huge blur to me. I saw blurs of my friends, Natalya, Keith, and Adrianna heading in my direction trying to get me away from Benjamin. Every time one of them got close to him a shadow erupted out of the ground and sliced at them (no doubt it was Heather's doing). Natalya managed to move past one of the shadows and attempted to slash at Benjamin's head — she was met half way by a staff composed of black steel.

Heather pushed her backwards before slamming the side of her staff into Natalya's ribs, the daughter of Aphrodite stumbled backwards before falling onto the ground. I heard Benjamin give a quiet chuckle as I tried to claw my way out of his arms. "It'll all be over soon."

Suddenly I was falling. Benjamin raised his spear into the air and threw it down towards me — no matter how much I tried to summon the winds around me, nothing happened. The spear impaled me in the stomach and I screamed out in pain — I gripped the base of the spear in attempt to pull it out only to find that I was currently swimming in green water that seemed to be burning away my skin. Turns out I had fallen through the large hole that rested under the Golden Gate Bridge. I felt sparks of electricity flow through my body and I was screaming again — a hand gripped hold of my leg and pulled me deeper into the water.

Black circles danced in my vision and I could feel (and see) my soul slipping away from my body — just as I was on the verge of passing out ghostly figures started to swim in my line of vision. One of them was vaguely familiar mostly because… It was my mother. My eyes widened instantly and I tried to extend my hand out to reach her. She looked just as I remembered her, brown hair and a pair of hazel eyes that mirrored my own. I saw her smile at me before vanishing and having her figure replaced by four ghosts.

"_Devon_, s_wim__ up__ and__ make__ sure__ they __don__'__t __touch __you!_" Aura commanded. I snapped out of my daze and tried to obey her voice only to find that after about five minutes of trying, I couldn't move and to make matters worse I could no longer hear her voice no matter how much I focused.

"So this is the boy?" one of them asked. The voice was old and rough.

"Looks like it, old man. Let's just get this thing over with." The four figures shot towards me and then shot _through_ me. As each one of flew out of me I lost a piece of my soul; when the last one passed through I felt as if I was nothing more than an empty shell.

Then a hand grabbed me by my hair and I was shooting up towards the surface of the water. Once we (that being me and whoever the hell grabbed) reached the top I was thrown forward onto the ground. My eyes shifted up and I was able to see them for the first time — the four deities that turned my life into a living hell.

First there was an old man with a long gray beard and a long rod in his hand; he was clothed in a gray rag that was covered in clocks. Next to him stood an old woman with withered features, gray hair, and much like the man beside her she had a serpent's tail instead of legs. Next to the other couple was a much younger one who appeared to be in their early twenties. The boy had light blonde hair and a pair of golden eyes that gleamed like the sun itself. He wore a Greek toga with a golden trim. Beside him was a girl with brown hair and yellow wolf eyes; she wore nothing more than a cloak of white that seemed to reveal _everything _on her body.

"Ananke," the old man said softly. "It seems most displeasing that _they_ are the only ones who have been granted youth. Wouldn't you agree?"

This earned a nod from the elderly woman. "Indeed my love, do you think you could remedy this problem?"

He nodded his head and slammed his staff on the ground — a blinding light filled my eyes and I was forced to close them. When the light faded I opened my eyes to find a thirty–something-year-old couple standing where the elderly one once stood. The man's gray beard was now nothing more than black stubble and his staff had been transformed into a wicked scythe. Beside him, the woman now had flowing back hair and had some rather _lovely_ curves.

A black shadow portal opened a few feet away from them and out stepped Heather with company in tow. Each of them kneeled to the ground in front of the four unknown people. Heather spoke up.

"Welcome back Lord Helios, Lady Selene." The younger couple nodded with a lack of interest. Kieran was the one to addresses the other two. "Wonderful to have you back Lord Cronus, you're looking as beautiful as ever Lady Ananke."

All of the names replayed over and over again in my brain. Helios and Selene were the original rulers of the sun and moon. Cronus was the Lord of Time while Ananke… Well, I wasn't sure about what she ruled over.

Helios arched his brow and motioned towards me. "I didn't expect the last required soul to come from someone so _scrawny_."

I managed to form a sentence. "What just happened?"

Heather was the one to answer. "That hole leads directly into the deepest part of Tartarus. A sacrifice of _four_ souls was required to bring back our masters. Over the years three other children of the wind gods were sacrificed. You were the last one we needed."

Kieran nodded. "One child for each of the cardinal directions, Notus was the last one we needed. Thankfully he created you just in time."

What did he mean _created_?

My eyes shifted from Heather and company onto the bridge where my friends lay unconscious. It was painstakingly obvious that they didn't stand a chance against Heather's much more experienced team. With a loud groan I gripped hold of my knife and staggered to my feet — Heather glared at me before standing up almost like she planned on stopping me. Helios extended his hand and stopped her. "I've been trapped in that pit for an eternity; I'll take care of the boy."

Fire sparked in the palm of his hand before expanding out into a long golden sword. Before I had the chance to admire the blade he was standing in front of me and slammed the hilt of the sword right into my forehead. Every bone in my body screamed as I flew backwards before coming to a stop when I rammed into a boulder. I tried moving only to find that Helios was glaring down at me with those golden eyes of his — the golden sword vanished and was replaced by a pair of golden knuckles. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was about to happen. The sun deity threw twenty punches in my direction and I could feel almost every inch of my flesh start burning away. My attention shifted down and I could just barely make out the bones that were starting to show on my arms.

Helios placed his hand against my throat and pulled his hand backwards one last time. Just as he was about to punch my face in, the two silver rings on my fingers exploded in a flurry of wind. This wind was different from any other I had felt before — it seemed to tear away at my very essence. My foe took a step backwards and flashed a glance back at Heather. "What's going on?"

The daughter of Hades couldn't come up with an answer. I prepared to open my mouth only to find that part of my face was gone — I glanced down to find that my fingers were _literally _being blown away in the wind. No matter how hard I tried to fight it I was disappearing piece by piece. I let out one last scream as my vision went black.

**xOx **

Natalya sat up just in time to see her best friend disappear. She couldn't explain what she saw but she was pretty sure that Heather was the cause of it all. With a quiet groan she grabbed her sword and headed over to where Keith's rope was still latched onto the side of the bridge — she grabbed it before sliding down onto the dry bay. It took every last bit of energy she had to charge forward towards Heather; however, because of her blurry vision instead of aiming at the daughter of Hades she aimed at the Titaness of the moon.

Selene wasn't really _amused _by anything that was going on. Her other half was so engaged with beating that pitiful excuse for a half-blood to a bloody pulp that he didn't even notice when Cronus and Ananke disappeared. If the moon deity had to guess she thought that the two headed off to rendezvous with the Roman demigods. Not that it really mattered to her, there was a certain someone that she intended on finding during her time on the surface world and her name was _Artemis._When the sound of footsteps rang in her ears, she glanced over her shoulder to find some chick rushing towards her.

An ivory bow appeared within her hand and she fired an arrow at her prey. The daughter of Aphrodite didn't have a chance move as the arrow rammed through her leg and sent her sprawling onto the ground. Selene glanced back at Helios before whining. "I'm ready to go! I've been trapped in that pit for a millennia and I need to reclaim my throne."

Helios smirked. "So you _are_ going to take down Artemis?"

She scoffed. "Obviously, now let's go before that girl tries to get up again."

Natalya looked up just in time to see the Titans raise their arms into the air and vanish in a flash of golden-silver light. Heather and her crew had vanished through a shadow portal which left Natalya alone. She slammed her hands on the ground and screamed — first she lost her boyfriend and now Devon was gone. Normally she didn't cry because people often stereotyped children of Aphrodite as weak because they cried about every little thing. This situation was different however and she couldn't care less about the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to find Keith standing behind her with a solemn look on his face. He was holding his stomach with his free (which meant the one that wasn't broken) hand and she knew that his ribs were broken. Leon stood behind him with Adrianna in his arms and six scratches going down the side of his face — the son of Lelantus bowed his head in silence before raising a dome of air around his friends.

A miniature tornado came to life around them and spun slowly for a few seconds — Leon snapped his fingers and just like that they were gone, headed back to Camp Half Blood to relay the news of what they had witnessed. Natalya wasn't exactly sure if she could retell their adventures — _Hades_ she wasn't even sure if camp was safe anymore. Hopefully everything was back to normal and Chiron would be waiting for them with his arms open wide just like always.

The Titans had risen and Devon was no where to be found. Everything the prophecy had said was coming true: the second Titan war was starting and there was nothing that anyone could do to stop it from happening. It was only a matter of time for all the heroes that fought for the gods to suffer the same fate as Devon; the dark blanket of death would soon cover the world. Helios would soon regain his control of the sun and Apollo was going to pay for stealing away his fiery throne. All hope was lost…

Or at least it was for now.


End file.
